CHEESE & WHINE: One Pitch To Rule Them All

Rays: 3
White Sox: 4


CHEESE:

• Carl Crawford. Another day another amazing catch in the outfield. CC stretched at a full sprint to grab a ball that was headed over the fence and managed to hold-on to it even after he slammed into the wall (almost identical to his all-star, game-saving catch; only more violent). Maybe he heard that I wanted to trade him and decided to prove to me that he's more than a "slightly above average" left-fielder.
• James Shields. Shields lasted 6 and 2/3 innings, allowing 2 runs on 4 hits. Shields struggled with his control a bit more than usual, walking 3 while only striking-out 4, but did what needed to be done to keep the Rays in the game.
• Pat the Patient. PB was 2 for 4 from the plate- hitting his 6th homer of the season in the 4th to kick-off the scoring. Toasty.
• Gabe Gross. 1 for 2 from the plate with a 2-run homer to increase the Rays' lead to 3. Gross also took a BB, is quietly hitting .277, and is probably the most underrated player on the roster (and has been since they signed him last season).

WHINE:

• One Pitch. I'm not one to typically be nit-picky about balls and strikes calls, but last night with 2 outs and 2 on in the 7th, and the Rays leading by a count of 3-1, Dan Wheeler threw a beautiful knee-high fastball to strike-out Alexei Ramirez looking, but homeplate ump, Laz Diaz, somehow called it a ball and the inning continued. Approximately 15 seconds later, on the very next pitch, Ramirez hit a 2-RBI triple to tie the game at three. The next batter, Jermaine Dye, hit an RBI single to put the Sox up 4-3, and the rest, as they say, is history. One pitch- one game, and one day in September we could all be looking back and saying with agony, "If Laz Diaz had just called that pitch correctly the Rays would be in the playoffs".

CRACKERS:

• Last night was the third game in four days with a final score of 4-3. It was also the Rays' fourth consecutive 1-run game.
• Don't forget today's game is at 2 pm (est), and features Kazmir (4-5) v. Buehrle (10-3).

CAVIAR (game ball):

• Gabe Gross. That homer was a beauty, and should've put the Rays up for good.