CHEESE & WHINE: Losing Effort

Rays: 2
O's: 3

CHEESE:

• Ben Zobrist. Benny-Boo seems to be the only player still running on all cylinders. Last night Zobrist lead-off the Rays scoring with a solo-homer in the 4th, and started a 9th inning rally with a double, but one man a team does not make.

WHINE:

• Matt Garza. Although last night's performance was acceptable by any means, (6 IP, 6 hits, 3 runs, 4 K's, and 2 BB's) Garza's season can be viewed as nothing but a little disappointing. Coming into the 2009 campaign I (and many others) viewed Garza as the Rays' best pure pitcher, but 7 months later Garza finishes-up his sophomore season with the Rays with a record of 8-12. Garza had a nice ERA of 3.95, but a lack of consistency cost he and the team some W's and cost the bullpen some valuable innings. In his defense, his team didn't always do him a lot of favors through run support, but a good pitcher finds ways to win regardless. Hopefully next season we'll see a 15 win season.
• Evan Longoria. I find it nearly impossible to believe that he's in a natural slump right now, which means he's just not mentally there anymore. I know he's just a kid, but the heart of a true champion or leader never goes away- even when his team (and by team I mean bullpen, primarily) was wildly disappointing down the home-stretch. Longo was 0 for 4 again and is now 2 for 15 over the last 4 games.

CRACKERS:

• Garza surpassed the 200 innings pitched mark last night for the first time in his career, and finished the season having pitched 203 innings.

CAVIAR (game ball):

• Ben Zobrist. This may end-up just being called the "Ben Zobrist Player of The Game Award" next year instead of "Caviar".
  

CHEESE & WHINE: 4 In A Row

*Wade Davis' shoe in the dugout during the 7th inning of last night's game (courtesy of Matt Garza).

Rays: 5

O's: 3

CHEESE:

• James Shields. Big Game looked sharp last night; lasting 8 innings, allowing 3 runs on 8 hits, striking-out 8 and walking.... 0. That's more like it. Save that for next season would ya. Shields finishes the '09 campaign with a disappointing record of 11-12 and an ERA 4.14
• Ben Zobrist. Zorilla did his best Zorilla impression and finished the night 2 for 4 with 3 RBI ( a 3-run homer in the 3rd).
• Akinori Iwamura. Aki was 2 for 3 with a walk. It's good to see Aki back to mid-season form.

WHINE:

• Evan Longoria. Dirtbag went 0 for 3 last night and is 1 for 11 over the past 3 games. Mailed it in, have ya?

CRACKERS:

• Four straight wins, and wins in 9 of the last 12 just serves to make the crappy stretches that much more painful.

CAVIAR (game ball):

• James Shields. Shieldsy was that close to his first complete game of the season. Eight K's and 0 walks is more indicative of the Shields we've known in the past.

CHEESE & WHINE: Wade-ing In Victory

Rays: 3
O's: 1

CHEESE:

• Wade Davis. Davis pitched 7 innings, allowing just 1 run on 7 hits while walking 3 and striking-out 3. Despite the poor K to BB ratio Davis looked good. I'm excited for next season with Davis in the rotation (presumably).
• Willy Aybar. Say 'ello to my lil friend. Aybar is on fire over the last several weeks, and last night was no exception. Willy was 3 for 4 from the plate with 1 RBI.
• Reid Brignac. The ragin' Cajun looked fairly comfortable at he plate last night going 2 for 3 with a triple and scoring a run. Brignac has also started to show how solid a fielder he can be as well, I'm just not sure where he fits into the Rays' short-term (2010-2011) plans.
• The Laugh Staff. Amazingly, the troop of Springer, Cormier, Wheeler, Choate, and Balfour managed to pitch a total of 2 innings and did not allow a run, and some people say there's no God.

WHINE:

• AL Wildcard. It was inevitable, but seeing Boston clinch the AL Wildcard stings nearly as much as watching the sad shell of a show that SNL has become, but I digress.

CRACKERS:

• Carl Crawford recorded his 60th steal of the season and set a new franchise record.
• The Rays now stand at 81-76 which ensures at least a .500 season. If they can dig-out 4 wins in their final 5 games they'll be able to hang their hats on an 85 win season in the AL East which, all things considered, is quite an accomplishment.

CAVIAR (game ball):

• Wade Davis. The kid has good stuff, and I dream of a 15 win season next year and officially deem 2010 Wade Davis' coming-out party.
  

CHEESE & WHINE: Zo, Zo, Zorilla

Rays: 7
O's: 6

CHEESE:

• Ben Zobrist. Benny-Boo is officially ridiculous. He has played every position but homeplate ump this season and is good at them all. Last night Zo played some firstbase before moving to more familiar territory in the OF late (where he made a great catch to record the 2nd out in the 9th inning). Zobrist finished the game 2 for 4 with a double and a homer (his 25th).
• Willy Aybar. Aybar came in as a pinch-hitter and delivered a 3-run homer to tie the game in the seventh. It was reminiscent of last season's magic.

WHINE:

• Jeff Niemann. How can I vote for you for AL R.O.Y. if you have foolish outings like that? Niemann was bad from the start last night, going only 3 and 1/3, surrendering 4 runs on 7 hits while walking 3 and striking-out 3. Its an understatement to say that the Rays won in spite of Niemann last night.
• Andy Sonnanstine. To me it's official; Sonny is done. I always thought he'd be a good reliever, and so far he has done all he can to prove me wrong. Hopefully he's just not mentally adjusted to being in the 'pen, but I'm pretty close to being done making excuses.
• Fernando Perez. Perez is obviously not a major league hitter... yet.

CRACKERS:

• Holy Homers. Last night's 4 home run performance gave the Rays a season total of 193 which is a new team single-season record. Imagine if Pena were still in the lineup throughout the last 6 weeks- they would've had a chance at 210.
• Don't forget to enter to win a Jason Bartlett autographed card from Rays the Stakes and Sports Memorabilia. Enter Here to win.

CAVIAR (game ball):

• Ben Zobrist. Zobrist is the definition of a utility player.
  

CHEESE & WHINE: Losing My Religion

Rays: 5
O's: 10

CHEESE:

• Pat Burrell. The Bat had a nice night, going 2 for 4 with a 3-run homer and 4 RBI total. Where was that all season?
• Ben Zobrist. Benny-Boo was 3 for 4 with a double, a triple, and an RBI. Well played, sir.
• Low-K. The team, as a whole, only struck-out twice. That's quite the improvement from the team average which hovers somewhere around 672 per nine innings (or so it seems).

WHINE:

• Jeff Niemann. The Rays' most consistent starter and AL R.O.Y. candidate didn't do himself any favors last night; lasting only 4 and 1/3 innings, allowing 6 runs on 11 hits. However, he did manage to strike-out 6 while only walking 1.
• Brian Shouse. I consider myself a good Christian man, but if I ever see Brian Shouse on the street I'm going to walk up and punch him in his lip. He comes in as a lefty specialist v. Scott and promptly surrenders a solo homer followed by a 4-pitch walk. Ridiculous amounts of anger.
• Russ Springer. The same punching possibility applies.

CRACKERS:

• The Rays are now only 1 game over .500 for the season, which is an absolute travesty considering where they stood just 3 short weeks ago (69-56).

CAVIAR (game ball):

• Pat Burrell. The Bat came through with some serious run-production.

CHEESE & WHINE: Thank Heaven For Small Miracles

Rays: 8
O's: 4

CHEESE:

• The Law of Averages said that it had to happen eventually. The O's were just the salve the Rays needed for their weeping wounds.
• David Price. After a bad start, giving-up 4 runs in the 1st (3 earned), David settled-in and shut 'em down. Price lasted 7 innings, recording 4 K's and walking 2.
• Reid Brignac. 4 for 4 with a homer, a steal, and 3 RBI. That's more like it young man.
• Carl Crawford. 3 for 5 with a double, an RBI, and his 57th steal.

WHINE:

• Evan Longoria. Dirtbag was 0 for 5 from the plate with 3 K's and leaving 5 runners on-base, oh and he had a throwing error from the field. It was not one of his better days.

CRACKERS:

• The losing streak ended at 11... thank God.
• The Rays are now 73-71 and will have to go on a real tear in order to reach 90 wins. Perhaps they should aim for 80.

CAVIAR (game ball):

• Reid Brignac. Great performance.

CHEESE & WHINE: Put Away The Brooms

Rays: 7
O's: 8


CHEESE:

• The Beef. Batters 1 through 5 were a combined 10 for 23 with 4 RBI (all belonging to Zobrist).

WHINE:

• The Beef. Batters 1 through 5 struck out a combined total of 8 times.
• BJ Upton. 0 for 4... again.

CRACKERS:

• Both Texas and Boston won their games leaving Tampa 4 behind Boston and 3 behind Texas in the AL Wildcard hunt. Simple math tells us that it'll now take a sweep just to pull even with Texas.
• The Rays have just 2 players batting over .300, Crawford (.321) and Bartlett (.344), and 4 starters batting under .240, Pena (.213), Navi (.221), Burrell (.232), Upton (.239).

CAVIAR (game ball):

• Ben Zobrist. Zorilla hit his 21st homerun of the season, and did all he could to keep the Rays close.

CHEESE & WHINE: One Run(g) At A Time

Rays: 3

O's: 1

CHEESE:

• Pat Burrell. Pat has found his bat. Burrell hit his 12th homerun of the season last night, his third in 4 games. We've waited very patiently for Pat to get on one of his famous streaks, and hopefully this is just the beginning. PB finished the night 2 for 4.
• BJ Upton. Speaking of waiting patiently, we've been more than patient with the junior Bossman as well, and he too seems to finally be putting together a little hot streak. Last night BJ was 1 for 3 with a solo homer, his second consecutive night with a dinger. If BJ and Pat can get hot and the pitching can hold up... look out.
• Ben Zobrist. While we're giving praise for solo homers let's not forget that Zorilla also knocked a solo shot in the 6th inning, his 20th of the season. Zobrist finished 1 for 3 with a homer and a walk.
• Jeff Niemann. The big man worked 7 and 1/3 allowing just 1 run on 7 hits while striking-out 5 and walking 1. Niemann is now 11-5 with an impressive 3.71 ERA. Unfortunately his name isn't even being bandied about in AL R.O.Y. circles while David Price's (6-5, 5.03 ERA) name is... sad.
• JP Howell. The gift that keeps on giving. Another converted save for the closer who isn't a closer. Howell pitched the 9th and allowed no runs on zero hits.

WHINE:

• Roy Halladay. Come on man, you can't do us one little favor and pitch lights-out against the Red Sox like you do v. everyone else. Allowing 5 runs on 8 hits and only lasting into the 5th... thanks for nothing.
• Evan Longoria. Dirtbag is slumping. Longo was 0 for 3 last night and is 1 for 11 over the last 3 games. Evan also hasn't his a homer since August 8th. BJ getting hot doesn't help if Longo goes cold.
  

CRACKERS:

• Wild Card. Texas lost again, so Boston now takes sole possession of the wild card spot leaving Texas 1 back and Tampa Bay still 3 behind Boston and 2 behind the Rangers with the Rangers headed to town tomorrow. Oh man, how exciting is this series going to be?
  

CAVIAR (game ball):

• Pat Burrell. PB Blaster is back on track and may still be able to pull-off 20 homers before all is said and done.

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.

CHEESE & WHINE: Grey Clouds on a Sonny Day

RAYS: 5
O's: 7


CHEESE:

• Carl Crawford. CC had another productive day; 2 for 5 with 2 doubles and 2 RBI.
• The Bullpen. The relief staff was exemplary with Balfour, Howell, Nelson, and Wheeler pitching for a total of 6 innings and allowing only 2 hits while walking 1 and striking out 3. What else could you ever ask for from your bullpen? Unfortunately, for the second game in a row the bats went silent down the stretch.

WHINE:

• Andy Sonnanstine. Sonny has lost his touch. Somewhere in the middle of trying to either reduce his billion arm angles or in an attempt to actually add more Sonny has lost the strike zone. Sonnanstine has always been somewhat hittable, but now the problem has started to become chronic. I feel like Sonny's life as a starter is fading fast. Last night's numbers were as dismal as ever; giving up 7 runs on 9 hits in 2 innings of "work", moving his ERA to a staggering 7.27, and forcing me for the first time to wonder if EJax wouldn't have been a better choice.
• Melvin Upton. The player formerly known as Bossman is digging a hole that may be impossible to climb out of. Another night another "o-for". Upton was 0-4 from the plate, again.
• Ben Zobrist. Zobbie filled-in at 2nd for Aki who got the night off, and played a below-average game defensively and an Upton-esque performance from the plate going 0 for 4, striking out once.
• Pat Burrell. Pat the Patient didn't play due to a stiff neck, again... come on, man are you 45 years old? You've got countless trainers and medical staff members waiting to loosen you up, do you want to play or not? Ridiculous.

CRACKERS:

• For all the ground the Rays have made up vs. Boston so far this season (6-4) they've undone by playing down to Baltimore's level (2-4).