Cheese & Whine: Rays @ Mets, Part 2

RAYS: 3
METS: 1

Just as everybody got comfortable complaining that the Rays don't win the close ones, they go out and beat this guy by two runs.

CHEESE

James Shields: James the Greater threw seven solid yesterday. Beyond the two doubles in the second, which began and ended the Mets' scoring, and Alex Cora's one-out double in the third, Shields was lights out. After the aforementioned third-inning double, Shields sat the next fourteen Mets he saw.

Middle of the Order: Back-to-back doubles in the 5th from J.B. and "Gabe" Kapler put the Rays on the board and tied the game, followed by homers in the 7th and 9th by Peña and Zobrist, respectively, that gave the Rays the lead and then put the game away. The middle of the Rays order accounted for almost 100 percent of total offense yesterday, and all of the scoring.

WHINE

Top of the Order: I'm excepting Upton from the criticism, as he did get himself on base twice. Both times, he was gunned down at 2nd off the bat of Carl Crawford, who also managed to get himself caught stealing second base. Longoria was, once again, 0-fer. I feel bad for complaining about C.C. and Longo, as they carried the team earlier this season, but it's true that their poor performance didn't sink the Rays yesterday, they need more from these guys.

CRACKERS

The Rays stopped a three-game skid yesterday. Hopefully Dirtbagfan is right about the Rays streakiness, and we're about to be treated to a six-game streak.