CHEESE & WHINE: Not Losing Hope

Rays: 4
Jays: 2
(10 innings)

CHEESE:

• Rolling with the Punches. Games like the perfect game in Chicago can break a team's spirit. Being in the AL East, where one bad week can end your season can break your spirit. Combining the two is a deadly combination, but the Rays came right back and found a way to beat the AL's best pitcher, thanks in large part to...
• Matt Garza. That's the Garza we've come to love. The sooner this kid realizes that pitching to contact is the easiest way to win with a defense like the Rays' behind him the better the entire team will be. Garza out-dueled Roy Halladay, pitching 9 innings, allowing just 2 runs on 5 hits while striking-out 9 and walking... none. Beauty, eh?
• JP Howell. Please bring all of your items to the front of the stadium, JP Howell will now be closing. It's uncanny to see JP pitching so well, I'm a huge fan, and have been since he made the move to the 'pen before last season, but the images of Howell's feeble attempts as a starting pitcher in '07 still make it hard for me to grasp how great of a reliever he's become.

WHINE:

• Nah. The Rays rebounded and beat one of the league's best pitchers, and everyone always says I'm too pessimistic, so I'll just savor the win- I won't mention that Carlos Pena was 0-5 against a right-handed pitcher again or anything, I swear.

CRACKERS:

• The Rays are now 3-0 against the Jays when Halladay gets the start. I'm fairly certain I still don't want to see him in a Boston or New York jersey though.

CAVIAR (game ball):

• Matt Garza. Who else?

CHEESE & WHINE: Oh No- There Goes To-ronto- Zo, Zo, Zorilla

Rays: 10
Jays: 9

CHEESE:

• Ben Zobrist. Not only did Zorilla hit the walk-off single to win the game he also hit a 3-run homerun (his 17th), and took a walk. Add to that the fact that he looks like he's really found his comfort zone at second base, and you've got yourself a legitimate all-star. Zobrist finished the night 3 for 5 with 4 RBI.
• BJ Upton. Upton's steal of home was legen... wait for it... dary. Here it is: There's no place like home.
• Dioner Navarro. Navi had a nice game from the plate, finishing 3 for 4 with a double and an RBI. The Rays need more games like this from Navi down the stretch.
• The Middle/Bottom. The middle to bottom of the lineup (Zobrist, Burrell, Bartlett, Kapler, Navi) combined to be 10 of 20 with a total of 8 RBI. Way to pick up the slack left by the fella's up top.

WHINE:

• Dr Jekyl/Mr Kazmir. Kaz looked like he had his stuff working for him, but he just couldn't stay out of his own way last night. Kaz surrendered 2 homers early before imploding in the 4th (although, in his defense, the home plate ump, Bill Welke, was wildly inconsistent with his balls and strikes calls). Kaz' stat line looks like this; 6 and 1/3 innings, 7 runs on 9 hits, walking 2 and striking out 4.
• Grant Balfour. Too many times this year the Mad Aussie has looked absolutely horrid, this was one of those times. Grant pitched 2/3 and allowed 2 runs on 3 hits.

CRACKERS:

• Last night's game lasted 4 hours 5 minutes... I swore it seemed like 5 hours, at least.
• The Rays look for the sweep today at 12:08 EST

CAVIAR (game ball):

• Ben Zobrist. Another great performance from Zorilla.

CHEESE & WHINE: PB Blaster

Rays: 3
Jays: 1
(11 innings)

CHEESE:

• Pat Burrell. Welcome to the party Pat. Burrell hit a 2-run, walk-off homer with 2 outs and 2 strikes in the bottom of the 1th. It was only Burrel's 4th HR of the season. PB finished the night 1 for 4 with the 2 (game-winning) RBI and a walk. Check out the video (ESPN's #1 play o' the day) here.
• James Shields. Shieldsy was sharp from the start and logged 7 innings while allowing just 1 run on 7 hits, walking 1 and striking-out 4. Shields didn't factor into the decision due to the fact that Toronto tied the game at 1 after Shields had already left the game.
• Ben Zobrist. Zorilla was 1 for 3 with 2 walks and a steal, but his real contribution came defensively where he had a great day , flashing the leather and his athleticism on various occasions. Check out one of those plays (ESPN's #3 on the top 10) here.
• Outfield Assist. BJ Upton had another tough day at the plate (0 for 5), but helped compensate for it by saving a potential game-winning run when he gunned down Hill in the 8th. You must check out the video (ESPN's #7 on the top 10) here... no really, you have to- it's good.
• The Bullpen. 4 innings, 3 hits, zero runs.

WHINE:

• Top of The Order. The 1 through 4 batters (Upton, Crawford, Longoria, and Pena) were a combined 0 for 19 against a rookie pitcher making his major league debut! Way to make a kid feel welcome. The fantastic 4 also combined for an awe-inspiring 7 strike-outs.

CRACKERS:

• Don't forget to vote for Pena as many times as you can, in an attempt to have a Rays' player be the fan vote for the second year in a row (Longoria). You can vote right... here.
• If Pena doesn't make the All-Star roster it'll be only the 8th time a player leading the league in HR's doesn't make the team.

CAVIAR (game ball):

• Pat Burrell. Do that more often.

CHEESE & WHINE: Rays are on Halladay in Toronto

Rays: 4
Jays: 1


CHEESE:

• Jeff Niemann. Jeff outlasted his counterpart (notoriously long-lasting Roy Halladay) and added another W to his 2009 campaign (7-4) by going 7 and 1/3 innings, allowing just 1 run on 4 hits, oddly enough only striking-out 1 (despite throwing 65% strikes) and walking 2. Niemann's ERA is now a very respectable 3.95.
• Carl Crawford. CC may not be leading-off the line-up, but last night he led-off the scoring in the 3rd when he blasted a 2-run homer into RF to put the Rays up for good. Crawford finished the night 2 for 3 with 2 RBI, a walk, and a steal (his 40th).
• Gabe Gross. Gross continued his hot hitting going 2 for 3 and drawing a walk. Although, someone needs to remind Gross to leave the running to his younger, faster teammates, as he was gunned down trying to stretch a single into a double (the tag debatablly missed him) and was gunned down again later in the game trying to steal second, but when you're hitting well I'm more than willing to forgive a sin or two here and there. I am a just and faithful blogger.
• Pat Burrell. PB was taking some heat over at Rays Index yesterday, and responded by doing exactly what we expect of him; hitting a homerun. The Rays are already averaging more than 6 runs per game, and if Burrell can start producing as well... look out!

WHINE:

• Carlos Pena. 0 for 4. Everyone has an off night every so often, especially against the likes of Halladay, but Pena looked out of place at the plate. The holes in his swing are growing daily.
• Willy Aybar. See Carlos Pena above.

CRACKERS:

• The Rays play more than 20 percent of their remaining schedule against the Blue Jays, so having their number would greatly increase their chances at a playoff run. Toronto is thinking the exact same thing too, I'm sure.
• Tampa Bay is now third place in the AL East, leading Toronto by 2 games, while trailing Boston by 5 and NY by 1.5
• If the season ended today the AL division winners would be Boston, Detroit, and LAA, with the wildcard belonging to NY. So, despite all of Tampa's early struggles and consistent inconsistency they still stand just 1.5 games from being in the wild card position- but there's a whole lot of baseball yet to be played. This should get exciting!

CAVIAR (game ball):

• Jeff Niemann. It's like watching one of my little boys grow up right before my eyes.