CHEESE & WHINE: Hold the Cheese... Double Duty

Game 1
Rays: 1
Yankees: 4

Game 2
Rays: 1
Yankees: 11

Whine:

• Carlos Pena. El Gato is gone for the season thanks to a pitch that broke two of his fingers. Ouch. Its a darn good thing for the Rays that they're not playoff bound because they'd be lost without Pena's big bat.
• The Unnamed Feeling. I borrow a term form Metallica (the best song on their St Anger Album) when I call the sadness and frustration and anger that I feel from watching the Rays over the last 2 weeks the "Unnamed Feeling". The bullpen literally makes me ill. If you were a Rays fan waaaaay back in 2006 and 2007 you're very very familiar with the sinking feeling you get every single time a starting pitcher gets the hook. Its a foregone conclusion that no matter what the scoreboard reads when the call goes out to the laugh staff, the Rays are headed toward a loss. Suddenly, as of late, the names Stokes, Corcoran, Lugo, Fossum, Ryu, Seo, and Camp have come back from the dead to haunt me. They're laughing at the frauds currently hiding in the bullpen on a supposed contending team; Springer, Cormier, Shouse, Bennett... they whisper their names into my ear while I sleep and every day I wake to find that its actually true; they really are on the Rays active roster and the Rays really are no longer in contention in large part because of these clowns- and a little piece of my heart breaks off and floats slowly down to the depths of my blackened soul, and the unnamed feeling comes again.
• Andy Sonnanstine. 2.2 innings, 6 hits, 8 runs, 3 walks... whatever dude.

Well, THAT was almost fun

Instead of complaining about another bullpen meltdown, a sweep at home at the hands of the solidly mediocre Tigers, and the obvious and, by now, undeniable sinking of the Rays' post-season hopes, I'm gonna be excited about the performance Wade Davis turned in today. One walk, one run (off a dinger to, of course, Aubry Huff), three hits, and nine strikeouts over seven innings is a very nice bit of work. Welcome to the bigs, Wade. Too bad they couldn't get the win for you.

CHEESE & WHINE: Paging the Real JP Howell

Rays: 3
Tigers: 4


CHEESE:

• Evan Longoria. Dirtbag is a stud. Two more doubles brings his season total to 40. That certainly helps detract attention away from his league-leading double play numbers. Last night Longo was 2 for 4 with 2 RBI.
• Carlos Pena. El Gato was 3 for 4 with a double and an RBI.
• Jeff Niemann. Niemann was good again (which makes me wonder why I'm still pleasently surprised everytime he turns in a good performance), lasting 7 and 1/3 innings allowing 1 run on 6 hits while striking-out 6 and walking 2.

WHINE:

• JP Howell. 2/3 of an inning. 2 walks. 2 K's. 1 hit. 3 runs. Unacceptable.
• Randy Choate. 1 batter- 1 hit. Again.
• If there was any hope left for a playoff run last night closed the door. A win last night would've made-up a game on Boston who lost v. the ChiSox (and the dying dream may have stayed alive), but as has been the case all season, when it mattered most it just didn't happen.

CRACKERS:

• Happy Labor Day weekend.
• I'm not going to complain about Tom Foley, neither should you.

CAVIAR (game ball):

• Jeff Niemann. Another start, another solid performance.
  

CHEESE & WHINE: I'm Calling It

I'm calling it:

Rays time of death, September 3, 2009 @ 10:23 pm.

Rays: 3

Red Sox: 6

CHEESE:

• Gregg Zaun. Zaun is a great addition to this team. I really hope they keep him around through 2010, so he can, at the least, mentor the young guys behind the plate. Zaun has also been a force from beside the plate, last night he finished just 1 for 4, but his 1 hit was a nice RBI double.
• Evan Longoria. Longo has been on fire from the plate again. This time he went 2 for 4 with 2 doubles and an RBI.
• Young Guys. The sadness of knowing that the postseason is just not gonna happen is somewhat off-set by the excitement of getting to see what some of the top minor league prospects have to offer over the next several weeks. Wade Davis makes his major league debut on Sunday, and several other players are on their way soon. I'd love to see the Rays find a way to make room for Desmond Jennings also.

WHINE:

• Flippin' Bullpen. Springer, Bennett, Shouse... you can have 'em. I'm done with 'em. Russ Springer is completely useless and Shouse makes even him look good.

CRACKERS:

• The Rays are now 6 games behind Boston in what I call an already-over playoff race. But I do believe in miracles, so there's that. Its gonna take God's help to make it happen, because these guys sure aren't going to do it themselves.

CAVIAR (game ball):

• Longoria. 2 more doubles (37,38) and an RBI (94)

BJ Down-ton

BJ Upton has had a down season.

BJ Upton is just as disappointed in himself as we are in him.

BJ Upton is still the real deal.

That being said, at what point does his liability at the plate (and on the basepaths) supersede his ability in the outfield?

Is it time for BJ to take a seat for a few games, again? would it benefit the team to plug in someone else who could be a potential sparkplug much as Zaun has been from the catcher position?

Online Surveys & Market Research

Holding-out Hope

Okay, so in the interest of trying not to completely throw in the towel, here is some fat to chew:

We've known all along that, whether they were in the hunt or not, the Rays would be limiting David Price's innings this season, so as not to put the team's present ahead of it's future.

I say what better time then right now to stick Price in the 'pen, and help solve several problems at one time... you know, two birds- one ball.

First, moving King David to the bully helps save his arm for future campaigns- which is of the greatest importance (obviously).

Second, moving Price to the 'pen would put a legitimate arm out there, so that if the game is on the line in the 6th or 7th inning of a must-win game the Rays can call-on someone with gas and a live, major league arm to come preserve the win.

I can't think of a more opportune time to make the move. Can you?

CHEESE & WHINE: They're Alive... Barely.

Rays: 8
Red Sox: 5

CHEESE:

• Resiliency. The Rays struck early, but Boston crept back into the game. Despite a complete momentum shift the Rays battled back to take the lead for good in the 8th.
• Gregg Zaun. Zaun finished the night 3 for 4 with 2 doubles and an RBI.
• Evan Longoria. Longo was 2 for 4 with 3 runs and a 2-run homer that was absolutely crushed into deep left field.
• Not waving the White Flag. Despite knowing that their playoff chances are slim at best the Rays came out ready to play, and it seems as if they still think there's hope. I don't think they have a prayer, but what do I know- I'd love to be wrong.

WHINE:

• Ben Zobrist. Zo was 0-4 on the night and left 3 men on base.
• The 'pen. Even if the Rays find a way into the post season these guys will sink the ship. How confident do you feel when you hear these names; Bennett, Springer, Shouse, Balfour, Choate? And as of late Howell seems to have lost his feel a bit as well. I was actually happy to see Wheeler yesterday... file that under "signs of the apocalypse".
• Staats & Kennedy. Every flippin' time Joe West is the home plate ump we have to listen to these two go on, and on, and on about how Joe West is still a National League ump who won't expand his strike-zone, but isn't afraid to ring people up. Yawn.

CRACKERS:

• JP Howell was tagged with the blown-save and the win. Pretty sure that doesn't happen often. $1 to anyone who can site the last time.

CAVIAR (game ball):

• Longoria. 3 runs and a monster homer when it mattered.

Nuff Said?

Reality Check: Here Comes Boston. Right... Now.

One series to rule them all.
One series to define them.
One series to make a push-
or in the playoffs we won't find them.
---

The gravity of the Rays' situation cannot be overstated.
Boston heads into town for a three-game set in what now becomes a do-or-die situation for the Rays.

I'm going to go out on a fairly short limb here and say that if the Rays don't sweep Boston at the Trop then Durham will soon be losing half their roster. In other words, the fat lady will have sung, and it'll be time to give some of the prospects a shot at some major league playing time (which could be exciting in and of itself, but not nearly as exciting as a late season playoff push would be).

As I'm sure you're already aware, the Rays trail Boston by 5 games in the AL wildcard race so a sweep would put them within 2 games with 25 to play- 3 of which would be against Boston.

This could be the most important 3 game stretch in franchise history (yes, it'd be easy to argue that 3 games of the World Series were bigger, but hear me out).
Although last season's fall classic was gargantuan the reality of the matter is that the Rays had already garnered tons of attention, new fans were arriving by the truckload regardless of the outcome v. Philly, and the Rays had finally after more than a decade made a splash,whereas losing this upcoming series to Boston, and there by extinguishing any chance at a playoff birth, would have an amazingly adverse effect on the national fan base. It would prove every naysayer right (or so they would think- I'd still beg to differ), that the Rays can't hang with the big boys, that 2008 was a fluke, and that the fair-weather/newbie fans would drop like flies.
Oh, and Bostonians would just be laughing their tails off all the way to Fenway, or at least back to their condos in St Pete (which may just be the worst part of all).

One series to rule them all.
One series to define them.
One series to make a push-
or in the playoffs we won't find them.

Why No C&W and Here Come the Call-ups.

Okay, Back from my typical, but odd, weekend (Sunday and Monday), and ready to roll.

No Cheese & Whine today (please don't TP my house again!) due to the fact that yesterday's game ended nearly 20 hours ago. If you're still somehow in the dark, let it be known that the Rays won a game, on getaway day nonetheless, despite Brian Shouse's best efforts. The Rays roll out of Detroit having split the series at 2 apiece (a series which for all intents and purposes should've been a 3-1 Rays victory on the strength of Niamann's nice outing Sunday, but alas was just not meant to be).

First round of September call-ups are here, and it includes the following players:

• Fernando Perez. Welcome back Mr Perez-ident. Your speed is what we desire.
• Jeff Bennett. What? Maddon says his arm is stretched and he can be used as a long reliever if need be. The mere possibility scares me.
• Shawn Riggans. Navi has to feel great.
• Andy Sonnanstine. Please, please, please don't come out as "hittable Sonny", because when Sonny is hittable its like BP for the bad guys. Conversely, when he comes out sharp he's a darn valuable fella. I'm not a big fan of coin tosses though.

I would've bet someone else's money that Joyce, Nelson, and Davis would've been here a.s.a.p., but no dice.

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