CHEESE & WHINE: Bad Calls? No Problem.

RAYS: 4
O's: 3

CHEESE:

• Matt Garza. G-Man overcame a rough start (25 pitch 1st), and worked through 8; giving-up only 1 earned run on only 4 hits, while walking 2 and striking-out 9. It did cost him 114 pitches which I think is a bit high, but hey, its early.
• Evan Longoria. Dirt McGirt was 2 for 4 from the plate with a double, another solo homer, and 3 RBI. I'm not sure about this kid- I wonder if he'll make it at this level?
• Reid Brignac. His swing looks miles better than it did last season, and he's peppering the ball around the park as a result. In his 2010 debut he went 2 for 3 from the plate and scored a run.

WHINE:

• Bad calls. The Crawford strike-out/Brignac throw-out was a complete farce, and could've cost the Rays big. Then in the top of the ninth, in a save situation, Soriano was robbed of an obvious strike-out which resulted in a walk that later turned into a run.
• Pat Burrell. Is it too soon to start ragging on Patrick? Kevin Kennedy "loves what he's seen so far", really? You love a 2 game line of 1 for 7 with 3 K's and about a half a dozen left on base? Come on dude, earn your pay for at least a few months.

CRACKERS:

• I was all set to report a decent attendence number, but it turns out (according to MLB) that last night's attendence was only 15,220. I really foresaw a number more like 18 or 19K, but I guess 15K for a Wednesday against the O's is just the reality of Rays baseball- doesn't mean I have to like it.
• After 3 games the Sox are 1.5 games back (let's not point out that they played the champs while we played the O's- let's just enjoy the stat).

CAVIAR (Game Ball):

• Matt Garza. I'll take more of the same for the next 25-30 starts please.