Worst Case Scenario

Last night after the Phillies came back to eliminate the Rockies a terrorizing thought crossed my mind:

What if the Fall Classic turns-out to be the Yankees v. the Phillies?

How could I enjoy a World Series where I couldn't possible want either team to win?

I'm not one of those guys who can watch a game (in any sport) without hitching my wagon to one side or the other, and I certainly could never cheer for the Evil Empire or the Phrauds in Philly.

So, in the interest of wanting to enjoy the Series and for trying to bring bragging rights back to the AL where they belong- I'm officially throwing my hat into the corner of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim near Disney.

CHEESE & WHINE: Get Out The Dustpans

Rays: 5
Angels: 10


CHEESE:

• Carlos Pena. El Gato managed to record his league-leading 30th and 31st homeruns yesterday afternoon, but alas it wasn't enough.
• Jason Bartlett. JB finished 4 for 5 with a double hitting out of the lead-off spot. He did have an ugly throwing error which was very Bad-News-Bears-esque, but 4 hits in 5 tries helps with the forgiveness of sins.
• Joe Maddon. Should've benched Upton 5 days ago, but at least he did it. Wasn't it around this time last season when Upton was benched for jogging to first? Hopefully he responds the same way. The only problem with Maddon's decision to sit BJ was that he replaced him with Gabe Kapler who, although I didn't think it possible, looked worse at the plate than BJ.

WHINE:

• Losing. 4 in a row. Instead of smelling blood in the water when Boston lost 4 straight v. NY the Rays decided to show Boston that anything they can do we can do better; even when it comes to losing.
• Gabe Kapler. You want to know the turning point of this game? Do ya? It was in the 6th inning just after Pena had hit his second homer of the day. With 2 on and 1 out Kapler was ahead in the count 3-1 against a pitcher (Bulger) who had only thrown 1 strike since coming into the game. Instead of waiting for his pitch, Kapler hits into a double play. Inning over. Momentum switches tracks, and BJ Upton smiles knowingly in a dark corner of the dugout, thinking, "Ha, at least all I would've done there was strike-out- I should totally be in the game."

CRACKERS:

• The Rays are now 10 games behind NY and 4.5 behind Boston. The time to start winning is right...now!

CAVIAR (game ball):

• Carlos Pena. Pena hit 2 more homers, and just missed a third.

CHEESE & WHINE: I'd Like to Buy a Run Please

Rays: 0
Angels: 6


CHEESE:

• David Price. King David looked good, very good in fact, until he didn't. Price was working on a no-no until the 5th, at which point he did his best Matt Garza impression and watched helplessly as the wheels fell off. Price finished the game having pitched 6 innings, allowing 6 runs on 8 hits while striking-out 4 and walking none (he did hit a batter (Izturis)). I've decided to put him in the "cheese" section because for half a game he looked the part of the ace most scouts and pundits have always considered him to be.
• Gregg Zaun. Zaun is doing everything Navi is supposed to do; call a smart game from behind the plate, and put balls in-play when standing next to it. Zaun finished the night 2 for 3 with a double. I was fairly sceptical about the Zaun signing, but have absolutely loved what I've seen so far especially two nights ago when he cut Garza off at the pass when Matty G was trying to escape down the tunnel during a tough inning. Zaun put a comforting hand on his shoulder and brought the temperamental Garza back down to earth. Priceless.

WHINE:

• Everything Else. Santana looked good, but the entire Rays lineup made his job as easy as possible.
• Reality. The pain of having to realize that perhaps these Rays aren't a playoff caliber team. Watching other playoff contenders is starting to make this painfully obvious. The Rays' lineup has more holes than an afghan.

CRACKERS:

• Tom Verducci of S.I. wrote an article about the AL wildcard race which seemed fairly accurate and informative- until he mentioned Andy Sonnanstine's crappy ERA as a reason why the Rays can't contend. He also mentions Price as having a great rookie campaign, but failed to mentioned Niemann at all. Last I checked Niemann has been by far the better rookie. Darn professional writers.

CAVIAR (game ball):

• No game ball.

CHEESE & WHINE: Something In The West Coast water

Rays: 7
Angels: 8


CHEESE:

• One Player To Rule Them All. Jason Bartlett is doing everything he can to try to lead this team to the promised land, but apparently not everyone's on-board (I'm talkin' to you Melvin). JB finished a single shy of recording the Rays' first ever cycle; going 3 for 5, with a double, a triple, a HR, 2 RBI, and 9 total bases. Come on JB, is that all you got?
• Ben Zobrist. Zorilla finished the night 2 for 3 with 2 RBI, and was robbed of a game-tying homer in the 9th.
• Randy Choate. On a night where everyone else was giving up runs like they were going out of style Randy manned-up for 1 and 2/3 innings, allowing just 1 hit and no runs. Choate's ERA is an impressive 2.21 over 36 games with the Rays.

WHINE:

• Matt Garza. Matty-G's team kept giving him forgiveness for his sins. They spotted him 2 runs right off the top, but that wasn't good enough. They gave him back the 3 runs he had so hastily given away, but it wasn't enough. Garza lasted an abysmal 3 and 1/3 innings, allowing 6 runs (4 earned) on 6 hits, while walking 4, hitting a batter, and surrendering 2 HR's. Do me a huge favor- stop hanging out with Scott Kazmir!
• BJ Upton. Still not sure why you're not leading-off? Another 0-fer for the junior Bossman. 0-4 with 1... 2... 3 more strike-outs in the old ball game. Thanks for all the help.
• Willy Aybar. Maddon has tried his best to get Aybar consistent AB's, but it seems that he's a much more effective batter from the bench. Aybar was 0 for 3 with 2 K's. Do me a favor and stop hanging-out with BJ.
• Russ Springer. A few reports have said that Springer is just what the Rays needed. Ummm.. really? Last night Jerry's brother pitched to 2 batters, allowed 2 hits, one of which was a homer, and was quickly yanked before Rays' fans mistook him for Shawn Camp or Brian Stokes.

CRACKERS:

• Despite the fact that the Red Sox have done everything in their power to help the Rays slide into the wildcard slot the Rays' inability to win in the Pacific Time Zone still has them 2.5 games back of Boston and 2 games behind the Rangers with 50 games to go.

CAVIAR (game ball):

• Jason Bartlett. I bet Maddon wishes he'd have listened to the informed masses and made the lead-off switch about 2 months ago. Hey Joe, I told ya so (so did everyone else)! JB is batting .340 over the last 365 days- not bad for an add-on to the Delmon Young trade. No single player has ever re-formed my opinion about them as much as Mr. Bartlett.

CHEESE & WHINE: .500

Rays: 11
Angels: 1


CHEESE:

• Dioner Navarro. I've been pretty hard on Navi, so I'll give him some much deserved love today after finishing last night's game 2 for 5 with a solo homer and a 2 RBI double. He also caught Chone Figgins trying to steal second.
• Carlos Pena. El Gato was 1 for 3 with a 3-run homer and 4 RBI. Carlos now has 19 homeruns and trails only Gonzalez (22), and Ibanez (21) in the HR dept..
• Gabe Gross. Gabe was 3 for 4 on the night with 2 RBI and a walk. Remind me again why the other Gabe ever played in Gross's stead.
• Reid Brignac. Nothing spectacular, but 2 for 4 is a start for a young kid still trying to learn that hits in the gap can be just as useful as the long ball.
• David Price. I may be the only person in the blogoshere that would put him here, but hear me out. Despite all the control struggles and ridiculous walk total (6), King David left the game having allowed 0 runs (although one of his baserunners scored after Balfour came-in in relief). I know that Price needs to pitch much, much better than he did and get through more innings, but there were at least 10 occasions during the game that he could've melted down and completely let the game get out of control (including the top of the first when he walked the bases loaded with only 1 out, but held it together and got out of the inning without surrendering a run), but when it mattered the most he came through (with a little help from his friends). Price finished the night after just 4 and 1/3 innings having allowed zero runs on just 2 hits while walking 6 and striking-out 6.
• Randy Choate/Joe Nelson. Choate and Nelson combined to pitch 3 innings of no-hit baseball, recording 4 strike-outs and making sure that a comeback of Cleveland-esque proportions would not happen again on their watch.

WHINE:

• BJ Upton. Come on man! Enough is enough with the half swings and lack of focus at the plate. Once again BJ was 0 for 5 from the plate, striking-out 3 times. Hmmm... I wonder where Bartlett should land in the lineup (but won't) when he comes back next week.

CRACKERS:

• The Rays put runs on the board during 6 of the 8 innings in which they batted.
• Longoria was a career low 0 for 19 when he smashed his 400+ foot homer to centerfield off of Santana. What better way to say, "You buzz the tower again and its gonna get ugly", than to send one flying all the way to Sarasota. Take that you little punk- respect the game and straighten-out your hat!
• 100 games left in the regular season.
• Check-out this video of a seagull helping the Indians win.

CAVIAR:

Dioner Navarro. This is more like the Navi the Rays need; a role player playing his role.

CHEESE & WHINE: Dolly Parton

Rays: 9
Angels: 5


CHEESE:

• Willy Aybar. Aybar had a great night from the plate; going 2 for 3 with a 2-run homer, 3 RBI, and a walk.
• Carl Crawford. Another day another pair of hits for CC. Crawford went 2 for 4 from the plate with an RBI. He was also credited with an outfield assist when he gunned down Abreu at home to save a run (it was Abreu though- he had no business trying to stretch that out).
• Ben Zobrist. Ben was 2 for 3 with a walk and scored 3 times.
• Carlos Pena. El Gato is heating up again (thankfully) and is making great contact. Carlos finished the game having gone 2 for 4 from the plate, hitting his 18th homerun of the season and scoring twice.
• Lance Cormier. Cormier to the rescue, again. After Niemann struggled Cormier was called on as the long-reliever again, and represented himself well; pitching 2 and 1/3 innings, allowing 2 hits and zero runs, while striking-out 2 and walking one. That'll do.
• Jason Isringhousen. 1 inning, 2 K's- that's all I want.

WHINE:

• Jeff Niemann. Niemann is technically still the 5-guy, and a rookie, so we can't forget to cut him a little slack, but he's got to find the strikezone a bit more consistently (48 of 91 pitches for strikes) no matter where he falls in the rotation. Niemann finished the game having pitched only 3 and 2/3 innings, allowing 5 runs (4 earned) on 7 hits while striking-out 3, and walking 3. The sad part is that he was this close (picture my fingers really close together) to squeaking out a W despite it all.
• Evan Longoria. Evan's recent struggles continued last night with another 0-fer. Longo was o for 4, and looks fairly awkward in the box right now. I understand the caution with the hamstring, but if he can't even try to run out grounders because he's still worried about reaggravating the injury then he needs to sit back down until he can.
• Dioner Navarro. Here's a big, giant surprise; Navi was 0 for 4, again. This guy has done very little this season to show that he belongs in a starting lineup. Navi did record a pick-off last night with a nice little snap-throw to third to catch Figgins who was taking a generous secondary lead.

CRACKERS:

• Yesterday I wrote an article called Sweet Friday in which I speculated on what the lineup card would look like on Friday if all went well, but apparently I jumped the gun on Bartlett being ready.
• The Red Sox beat the Yankees last night and are now 7-0 against their New York rival this season. These two teams beating up on each other is supposed to help level the playing field, but New York isn't doing the Rays any favors by giving away 7 division games to the stinkin' Sox.

CAVIAR:

Carlos Pena. Although his homer may not have been as productive as several other hits last night, Pena's making good contact- and the ball is jumping off of his bat again. Pena heating-up again is about as important as any other circumstance surrounding the Rays right now, and for that he gets the gameball.

CHEESE & WHINE: Ho-Hum

Rays: 3
Angels: 4


CHEESE:

• Ben Zobrist. Zorilla hit yet another homer, his 12th, in the 8th inning to pull the Rays within 1. Zo finished the night 2 for 4 from the plate with 2 RBI, scored a run, and was the only Rays player to record more than 1 hit.
• Carlos Pena. El Gato was 1 for 2 with a double and 2 walks. With patience will come better pitches to hit, and with better pitches to hit will come more homers. *fingers crossed*
• Gabe Gross. Offensively Gross was less than stellar (1 for 4 with 2 K's), but Gross showed exactly why he deserves a roster spot over the other Gabe by showing good instinct and showcasing his great arm on several occasions, including gunning down Kendrick from shallow RF.

WHINE:

• James Shields. You could see from the first pitch that Shields didn't feel like pitching. If you go back and look at the tape you'll see that he was just kind of skulking around right out of the gate, and it wasn't until the 3 inning that Shields caught his stride, but between his lackadaisical approach and a few defensive errors the Angels were already on top, where they'd stay the rest of the game. Shields finished the game having pitched 6 and 1/3 innings, allowing 4 runs (2 earned) on 10 hits, while walking 0, and striking-out 3. Not good enough for the supposed Ace of the staff.
• Dioner Navarro. Navi is back to his sucky ways once again, going 0 for 4 with a strike-out. Navi's descent back into the mires of hitting sucktitude coupled with his crappy defensive effort this weekend have re-earned him a spot "on-notice" (sidenote: as no major gaffes have been made as of late Joe Maddon has been removed from the list).
• RISP. Team stats with runners in scoring position: 0 for 8. Not gonna win those games.
• Evan Longoria. Since returning from his strained/sore hamstring Longoria is 0 for 6 with 3 strikeouts. E-Lo has drawn 4 walks (1 intentional) during that stretch, but the Rays need more from their stud third baseman.
• BJ Upton. Stop trying to steal.

CRACKERS:

• In round 1 of the first-year players draft the Rays selected (30th overall pick) 17 year old LeVon Washington (fresh off of shoulder surgery (no red-flag there?)) from Gainsville, Fl. Washington bats left-handed and throws right. Their second and third round picks were Kenneth Diekroeger (ss), and Todd Glaesmann (of) respectively.

CAVIAR (game ball):

Ben Zobrist. Another day another homer.

Game Recap: Angels win, where's the Devil now?

June, 10, 2008

RAYS: 1

Angels: 6

HIGH-LITES:

Evan Longoria (AKA Dirtbag) coninues to swing a hot bat. Last night he was 2 for 3 with 2 doubles.

Shields pitched a complete game, his third CG of the season. He gave up 6 earned runs on 10 hits in 8 innings. Although he didn't have his best stuff he was able to stay in the game and give the 'pen a much needed rest.

Gabe Gross once again showed that he can be more than just a defensive player by cracking his 5th HR of the year into centerfield in the eighth, effectively spoiling Weaver's shut-out.

Willy Aybar made a nice diving grab at first to complete the 1,2,3 second inning.

Noodle-Arm Bartlett broke his form and made a great stop and throw on the run to end the eighth.

LOW-LITES:

The Rays as a team combined for only 4 hits. Part of this was the pitching of LAA starter, Weaver, but part of it was just inconsistant AB's for the Rays.

James Shields went out and pitched without his "stuff" again. Shields is supposed to be the consistant pitcher in this rotation, but has been struggling to put a game together on the road as of late. Don't get me wrong, I'll take a complete game, but i'd like to see him in better control of a game.

Shields is a different pitcher on the road this year than at home, as detailed in this snipet of an article by Bill Chastain at MLB.com:

"In seven home starts this season, Shields is 3-1 with a 1.72 ERA, including a two-hit shutout against the Red Sox and a one-hit shutout against the Angels on May 9. After allowing six earned runs in eight innings Tuesday night, Shields actually lowered his road ERA from 7.06 to 6.99 as his record away from home moved to 1-4."

When asked about his struggles on the road Shields replied:

"Bad luck, pitching well. What are you going to do?"

Hopefully start winning on the road, mister!

Aki and Crawford, the one and two batters, combined for a grand total of 0 for 8 at the plate.

Upton was caught stealing, again.

Last night's loss ensures a losing road trip. Given that this was one of the toughest roadtrips, if not the toughest roadtrip of the year, I suppose that that's acceptable, but I still can't shake that horrible feeling I got last week during the BoSox series that the wheels are close to falling off of our "dream" season...I hope I'm wrong.

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