CHEESE & WHINE: The One that Almost Got Away

RAYS: 8
O's: 6


CHEESE:

• Jason Bartlett. JB is a new player offensively. Since the all-popularity break last season he's hitting somewhere in the .999 range (okay, I exaggerated a little), and yet he's still not leading-off with an OBP of .409. Baffling. Last night was another day at the office for Bartlett, going 3-4 including a solo homer in the 3rd (his 5th, tying his personal best).
• Carlos Pena. If there's anyone who says his gold glove was a fluke I'd like to refer them to this most recent example of defensive awesomeness. Pena also played well offensively (surprise), going 2 for 3 with 2 doubles and reaching base 4 times.
• Melvin Upton. He still doesn't get his nickname back, but it was nice to see the player formerly known as Bossman get a few hits. Upton was 3 for 6 from the plate with a double and an RBI. That's more like it.
• Jeff Niemann. I wasn't sure if I wanted to put him here, but decided that he did pretty much exactly what you want your #5 starter to do- he gave the team a chance. His numbers weren't staggering, but he left the game after 5 innings with the game tied at 2, and got the W thanks to a couple of 6th inning runs. Niemann gave up 2 runs on 8 hits, striking-out 2 while walking 3. Again, the numbers aren't great, but what do you expect from a rookie #5 early in the year?

WHINE:

• Troy Percival. Fatty McFluffnuts did his absolute best to give this game away, but couldn't even do that right. The Rays "closer" came into the 9th with a 6 run lead and quickly gave 4 of them back, allowing 4 runs on 4 hits including back-to-back homreuns (Roberts and Pie). Quality work Percy- you almost make me want to see Isringhousen... almost.
• Evan Longoria. Dirt McGirt was off his game last night, at times looking uninterested and constantly looking unhappy. E-Lo managed a rare 0 for 6 night from the plate striking-out twice while leaving a ridiculous 7 runners on base.

CRACKERS:

• For the first time in franchise history the Rays have 3 players in the top 10 in the league in batting average (Bartlett, 4th; Longoria, 6th; Crawford,10th).
• Carl Crawford left the game with a "bruised right shoulder", but appears to be fine.