CHEESE & WHINE: Rays are on Halladay in Toronto

Rays: 4
Jays: 1


CHEESE:

• Jeff Niemann. Jeff outlasted his counterpart (notoriously long-lasting Roy Halladay) and added another W to his 2009 campaign (7-4) by going 7 and 1/3 innings, allowing just 1 run on 4 hits, oddly enough only striking-out 1 (despite throwing 65% strikes) and walking 2. Niemann's ERA is now a very respectable 3.95.
• Carl Crawford. CC may not be leading-off the line-up, but last night he led-off the scoring in the 3rd when he blasted a 2-run homer into RF to put the Rays up for good. Crawford finished the night 2 for 3 with 2 RBI, a walk, and a steal (his 40th).
• Gabe Gross. Gross continued his hot hitting going 2 for 3 and drawing a walk. Although, someone needs to remind Gross to leave the running to his younger, faster teammates, as he was gunned down trying to stretch a single into a double (the tag debatablly missed him) and was gunned down again later in the game trying to steal second, but when you're hitting well I'm more than willing to forgive a sin or two here and there. I am a just and faithful blogger.
• Pat Burrell. PB was taking some heat over at Rays Index yesterday, and responded by doing exactly what we expect of him; hitting a homerun. The Rays are already averaging more than 6 runs per game, and if Burrell can start producing as well... look out!

WHINE:

• Carlos Pena. 0 for 4. Everyone has an off night every so often, especially against the likes of Halladay, but Pena looked out of place at the plate. The holes in his swing are growing daily.
• Willy Aybar. See Carlos Pena above.

CRACKERS:

• The Rays play more than 20 percent of their remaining schedule against the Blue Jays, so having their number would greatly increase their chances at a playoff run. Toronto is thinking the exact same thing too, I'm sure.
• Tampa Bay is now third place in the AL East, leading Toronto by 2 games, while trailing Boston by 5 and NY by 1.5
• If the season ended today the AL division winners would be Boston, Detroit, and LAA, with the wildcard belonging to NY. So, despite all of Tampa's early struggles and consistent inconsistency they still stand just 1.5 games from being in the wild card position- but there's a whole lot of baseball yet to be played. This should get exciting!

CAVIAR (game ball):

• Jeff Niemann. It's like watching one of my little boys grow up right before my eyes.