Does Anyone Remember Where the Broom Is?

The series against the Royals marks the Devil Rays' 18th series of the season.
In the previous 17 series they are yet to sweep anyone other than a 2-game set in New York in the first week of May.

Of those 17 series that the Devil Rays have completed so far this season they've had a chance at the sweep in the last game of the series 4 times; Boston 5/2, New York 5/7, Florida 5/24, Minnesota 5/31, with the only successful sweep being the aforementioned 2-gamer in New York.

This afternoon the Devil Rays are presented with yet another opportunity to sweep a series, and have what looks on the outside like a pitching-matchup advantage (Shields v. Meche).
But the injuries aren't going away and the lineup looks make-shift again, to say the least, minus Longoria, the still ailing Bartlett and Burrell, and the resting Navarro.

Here's how they'll line-up this afternoon:

B.J. Upton, CF
Carl Crawford, LF
Willy Aybar, 3B
Carlos Pena, 1B
Ben Zobrist, 2B
Matt Joyce, RF
Joe Dillon, DH
Michel Hernandez, C
Reid Brignac, SS

*Longoria will be available to pinch hit according to Marc Lancaster.

How I see It:
Start digging around in the broom closet because I think despite it all the Devil Rays are finally going to get their first three-game sweep of the season.

Anyone have a broom?

It's high time for the Rays to string together some wins, and I am stepping forward to boldly predict an unlikely sweep in Oakland.

What?

You want some statistical analysis to back up my prediction?

Ummm... no.

My prediction is like Mel Kiper Jr's annual prediction(s) of the NFL draft. Each year ol' Mel comes around and starts touting around 15 or so obvious first round choices and "strategically" matching a player with a team which has a need for said player at a specific position. The problem is that he's rarely right. He takes those names and changes the order 5 or 6 times in the month leading up to the draft with hopes that one of his guesses will be right.

So, in honor of Mel Kiper Jr and his amazing ability to predict the draft I will predict, fo rno particular reason a Rays' sweep of the A's in Oakland.

Okay, I lied. I'll give you some reasons:

Realistically, the Rays need to start winning series, and after losing the series 1-2 in Seattle they need to make up a game in Oakland and/or Minnesota just to finish the road trip above .500, and I actually like a few of the match-ups in Oakland (ie Kaz v. the inexperienced Trevor Cahill, and possibly Sonny v. Eveland).

Oakland will pitch 2 lefties in the series, which is good news for the Rays who are actually hitting lefties better than righties so far this season.

What, you want to see those numbers?

Okay.

Done.

TEAM STATS (SPLITS)

vs. LHP vs. RHP

BA -.268--- .259

OBP .353 ---.326

OPS .795---- .767

Ha, take that Mel Kiper Jr.- real statistical reasoning. Stick that into your beautiful, flowing hair and comb it through a few times.

**Don't forget to head over to Rays Index and get your pick in for Sunburst Player of the Game.

-DirtbagFan

Cheese & Whine: July 3

CHEESE & WHINE: VICTORY, SWEEP VICTORY!

RAYS: 7
Sox: 6

CHEESE:

• The Rays swept arch-rival Boston at the Trop, again, and now hold a 3.5 game lead in the East.
• Crawford and Longoria once again poured it on offensively. Each player went 3 for 4 with Longoria racking-up 3 more RBI, including a 2-run double to start the scoring in the bottom of the 7th.
• You know things are going well when Gary Glover gets the W, and actually deserves it. Glover's numbers aren't spectacular, but retiring Manny and Co. in the top of the 7th when it was starting to look like Boston was mounting a comeback was huge.
• Jason Bartlett played another solid game on both sides of the ball. If he keeps this up I may have to come up with a nicer nickname than Ol' Noodle-Arm. Bartlett was 2 for 3 with 2 RBI and another stolen base (18).
• BJ Upton finally showed some hustle in center and made a great catch with his back to the ball. Bossman also stole 2 bases and now has 25 steals for the season.

WHINE:

• I was all set to go crazy on Kaz's not being able to keep his pitch-count down again, but then the Rays went and swept the Sox, and I said "Screw It".

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