CHEESE & WHINE: 1 and Done

RAYS: 0
M's: 1


CHEESE:

• James Shields. Shields pitched a real gem in Seattle, surrendering 1 run, a solo homer by Ichiro, on his second pitch of the game- allowing only 4 hits in 7 and 1/3 innings of work, while striking out 4 and walking 1. Any other day this performance is an easy W, but Shields' supporting cast apparently doesn't remember exactly what a "productive out" is.
• Evan Longoria. Dirtbag continues to show his defensive range day in and day out. In the bottom of the 6th Evan once again showed off his gold-glove-caliber D. First he grabbed a tough one-hopper (that was cutting so far foul that by the time he turned he was throwing from the third base dugout) and gunned down Burke. Then to end the same inning he broke to his left and made a diving grab of a sharply hit liner to rob Lopez of a hit. They may need to come up with a new award just for Evan- a gold glove just isn't enough.
• Jason Bartlett. I've been calling JB "ol noodle arm" since the day he flew into Tampa, but last night Bartlett made a great backhand grab while moving to his right (away from 1st) and launched a rocket to cut down the speedy Ichiro Suzuki. I may have underestimated this kid's value (that's bad news for one Reid Brignac).
• Pat the Patient. Pat Burrell, who has been stripped of his original nickname, has earned himself a new one. Burrell has shown quite the proclivity toward patience at the plate recently, recording 4 walks in the last 2 games. I hope it's contagious, and that he tells Pena and Upton that they don't actually have to swing at every freakin' pitch.

WHINE:

• The top of the lineup. The top four batters (Upton, Crawford, Longoria, Pena) were a combined 2-16, with both hits coming from CC. Yes, I know Hernandez pitched extremely well, but that's his job, just like finding ways to hit is half of these guys' job.
• 0-7. The Rays were 0-7 with runners in scoring position. Despite how well Hernandez pitched he did give the Rays a few gifts, issuing three walks. Couple that with the fact that for most of the game the M's had more errors than hits and you'd think that the Rays would've been able to produce at least 1 run, but you'd be wrong.
• The trains. Yesterday I complained (shocker) about how many trains screamed past Safeco Field during Wednesday's game (cheese & whine), last night I counted just how many there actually were... 9.

CRACKERS:

• Evan Longoria (who has been featured in all 3 sections of this post) hit 5 HR's in the first 6 games of the season but has yet to hit one since.