Posts Tagged ‘Tampa Bay Rays’

I wrote this on Twitter during ESPN’s coverage of the game when Jon Miller said that it will be tough for the Red Sox to catch the Rays or the Yankees because New York and Tampa Bay had been playing much better baseball than the Red Sox lately.  It didn’t sit right with me, so I looked it up.

Before Sunday’s games were played, the Yankees’ record in August was 13-13 and they had won six out of their last ten games.  The Rays’ record was 15-11 and they also won six out of their last ten.  The Red Sox?  15-11 and wins in six out of their last ten games.

So to say that, right now, the Rays and Yanks are playing well above the Red Sox (which is pretty much what Miller was saying) is flat-out wrong.  This season hasn’t been anything if it hasn’t been a struggle but the Red Sox are playing ball at the same level as the two teams currently above them.  It doesn’t help when you look at the standings and see how far out they are but it shouldn’t be glossed over that the Rays and Yanks are so much more superior when right now they’re all playing at similar levels.

It looks like a really tough road for the Red Sox to make it to the playoffs but it isn’t impossible.  Losing the series in Florida was tough but it doesn’t mark the end of days.  Three more games against the Rays and six more games against the Yankees alone is cause for hope.  I’m not happy with the way this weekend went but I’m not wallowing in sadness either.  Still a lot of baseball to be played before their playoff chances are dashed.

Highlight of the game? Kalish's catch was fantastic! Photo courtesy of Kelly O'Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com and used with permission.

I didn’t purposely skip over posting yesterday but I can only imagine the emails I would have received had I written something.

Because, had I written an entry on Saturday, it would have been about how good Friday night felt.  The Sox beating the Rays, the Yankees losing to the White Sox, the Red Sox gaining a game all around.  It was a great feeling and a wonderful way to end the night.

As good as Friday felt is as bad as Saturday felt.  But, really, Saturday doesn’t change Friday.  Friday was still great and the Red Sox are still in the position they were in before the game Friday night.  And while I get people being upset – hell the word to describe how I felt after the game was and still is “sad” – based on emails I’ve received today without having posted yesterday, I can only imagine how much worse they would have been had I shared in full-length format how happy Friday night made me.

I received a handful of emails from different folks regarding this weekend’s games thus far.  Here’s an excerpt from one:

You were so excited on Twitter Friday night and now you look stupid. Why bother getting excited about the Red Sox when you know they’re going to lose just like they did tonight? They suck and you’re wasting your time with them.

The kicker? This came from a Red Sox fan who follows me on Twitter.  Seriously?  I’m wasting my time?

Here’s the thing.  Last night was a tremendous kick in the ass.  Until Clay starting reverting to his old self by throwing over to first a million times, he was sailing.  After that errant throw that allowed Pena to take third from first and eventually score, the wheels came off.  We all saw it, we all felt it, we all new what was coming and couldn’t stop it.  I was upset in the moment but after sleeping on it I have one question for folks:

How is what happened last night any different than what’s been happening all season???

The entire season has been a flurry of great games, sucky games, great news, sucky news, lather, rinse, repeat.  If you’ve stuck it out this long…if you’ve decided that this team has enough guts and heart and energy that you want to watch every night to see what happens…if you don’t think 5.5 games out of first place at the end of August is the worst place they can be…then why the hell would one God-awful, gut punching game make you throw in the towel now?

I get the knee-jerk reaction stuff.  Hell, sometimes I think I’m QUEEN of the knee-jerk reactions when it comes to the actions going on during the game.  But, honestly, it didn’t even take me sleeping on it for me to remember that this seasons seems to be some sort of test by the Baseball Gods and last night’s game might have been one of the hardest parts of that test but it doesn’t mean you tear up your paper and storm out of the room.

In the American League, the Orioles, the Tigers, the Royals, the Indians, the Angels and the Mariners all are playing under .500 right now, yet they still have fans who go to the games and who try to enjoy the season for what it’s worth.  One game at a time, one play at a time, one amazing win or devastating loss at a time.  The Red Sox are 18 games over .500.  They’re 5.5 games out of first place and, really, still in the middle of a pennant race whether folks think it’s an impossible goal or not.  They’re still in it.

It sucks that they lost.  It especially sucks how they lost.  But don’t be sending me (or anyone else) messages telling me I’m stupid for getting excited about the wins because they turn around and have the nerve to lose as well.  I’m a fan.  This is my team whether they suck or they excel.  Now is the time for people to step back and figure out what they want from their team and what they realistically expect from the men who take that field.

I want them to win more than they lose and I want them to entertain me.  I want them to help make my summer and early fall interesting and exciting.  So far they’ve done all of that, so you bet your ass I’m going to be here and on Twitter proclaiming my happiness for and about them.  I invite you to do the same because it beats the heck out of the alternative.

Photo taken by Kelly O'Connor/sittingstill.net and used with permission.

I like Matt Garza.

I can’t help it.  Yeah, he spits a lot.  What baseball player doesn’t?  Sure he pitches for a team that folks like to pretend is the new “enemy” of the Red Sox (They aren’t.  They’re a good team and they have some interesting history with the Sox but unless someone blows up Yankee Stadium and sells off the Yankees, the Rays will never really be “the enemy” in my eyes).  But I’ve never held that “hatred” so many Red Sox fans seem to have for him.  I also dig how important his family is to him.  I like him.  There, I said it.

If the worst things you can say about Garza are that he spits too much and he beat the Red Sox in the 2008 ALCS (going on to become the series MVP) – I think he’s doing all right.  So when I got to see him throwing his no-hitter last night, I was genuinely happy for him.  There are only two times I don’t want to see a no-hitter get thrown:  If it’s happening against the Red Sox (and even then, I make exceptions.  When John Lackey took one into the 9th inning at Fenway Park, I was there and wanted him to get it – mind you, from innings 1-8 I didn’t, but getting all the way to the 9th I thought he had earned it) and if it’s being thrown by a Yankees pitcher (this doesn’t apply to former Yankees…I’d love to see Carl Pavano throw one this year!).  Aside from those two situations, I thoroughly enjoy a great pitching performance.  So congratulations to Matt Garza for throwing the first no-hitter in Tampa Bay history against the Detroit Tigers last night.  Division race aside, it was a fun way to spend a Monday evening.

Photo courtesy of Kelly O'Connor/sittingstill.net and used with permission

I don’t normally like to focus on the guys who always get focused on but, screw it, how about that David Ortiz?

Against Detroit, New York, Minnesota, Philadelphia and Tampa Bay, five series that everyone kept saying would “make or break” the Red Sox, Big Papi hit .400.  Over the last ten games, he has 14 hits, four home runs, 12 RBI and even 5 walks.  The guy is getting on base and scoring runs (eight in that 10-game stretch) and isn’t considered the easy out that he was back in April.  He was just a major contributor to the Red Sox sweep against the mighty Tampa Bay Rays and helped the Sox outscore them 19-3 in this series.

There are no more excuses.  You can’t tell me he was facing weak pitching (Phil Hughes, CC Sabathia, Joba Chamberlain, James Shields, Matt Garza…these guys are good, yes?) and you can’t blame Fenway for being an easy home run park (out of his last ten games, only one was played at Fenway where, admittedly, he had a a two-run home run against Scott Baker).  Whatever Papi didn’t have in April, he has now, in spades.  Welcome back, Large Father.

The rest of the team?  Not too shabby either.  Adrian Beltre went insane on the first place Rays’ pitching.  The team won this last series, pardon me, swept this last series, with their hitting and their pitching…how nice is it when that happens?

According to Michael Silverman, Papi will  possibly be in Queens today at the wake for his friend Jose Lima.  If that happens to be the case, I can’t imagine anyone could complain if it causes him to miss the game tonight.  I know I won’t.

Too many were so quick to write this team off and while I know there is still a lot of baseball in front of us and anything is possible I continue to have that good feeling that this summer is going to be one heck of a ride.  Sweeping the Rays, winning the series in Philly, sweeping the Twins, splitting with the Yanks (that’s a record of 8-2 if you don’t want to do the math)…this is just the beginning.

Best line of the night, uttered by Jerry Remy in the 9th inning:

“You can almost see them coming together as a group!”

So long, Scott, and good luck! Photo courtesy of Kelly O'Connor/sittingstill.net and used with permission.

So very happy to hear that Darnell McDonald got a reprieve from the governor yesterday. That isn’t to say that I’m happy that poor Scott Atchison got the axe, but I’m really quite pleased that Darnell is still with the team. (Jacoby possibly still being injured? Doesn’t please me at all…but I’ll take what I can get right now.)

Last night the Sox one-hit the Rays, winning a game where the Sox only got four hits and two runs. A well-pitched, low-scoring game against the best team in the league and the Sox came out on top. Definitely reason to be happy today.

As there usually is with the Sox/Rays series, there was a little drama last night too. Pleasantly, it didn’t directly involve the Red Sox.  It still baffles me that Carl Crawford would be stupid enough to get himself thrown out of a game in the fifth inning on a first pitch called strike. Crawford is the best hitter on that team right now and they were facing a good pitcher but only down by two in the fifth. I don’t care how terrible the call was (and it was a terrible call), act like a professional and suck it up.  You don’t get yourself thrown out of the game in that situation, you just don’t.  Excluding the 17.5 games behind the Orioles are (sorry Baltimore!), Tampa Bay’s lead in the division is 6.5 games now.  The Rays aren’t far enough ahead of the rest of the pack to not care about losing their best player because he gets pissy about a bad call.   They’ve happened all season, they’ve happened since the game began, they will always happen.  Was hurting your team worth it?  Carl Crawford seems to think so:

As for getting as angry as he did, Crawford said, “He didn’t back down, and I didn’t want to lose a trash-talking contest.”

If I were running the Rays, Crawford would get fined for that comment. That’s genius right there. It was more important to be a big man than to help your team try to win the game? Ridiculous.

Had a Red Sox player done this I’m fairly certain my brain would have exploded.

Speaking of things that make my head hurt…there is no possible way I could care less about how long David Ortiz takes to round the bases after he hits a home run.  None.  As I’ve written many places, if you don’t want a player doing what you consider a disrespectful trot, don’t throw the damn home run ball in the first place.  The parade of people constantly looking for negative things to write about David Ortiz is getting very tiring.  The team loves him, the fans love him, stop trying to find reasons to dislike him, you’re all only embarrassing yourselves at this point.

Red Sox are now six for six on Tuesday night live chats night.   As always, thank you to everyone who participated!  Same time, next week!

Three afternoon MLB games today and the Twins and Yankees pick up last night’s game at 5:05pm ET in the top of the 6th…so there is plenty of baseball to enjoy before we sit back and watch John Lackey take on Matt Garza tonight for what could be a sweep of the AL East leaders.  Until then, if you’re in the Boston area, it’s a gorgeous day, go out and enjoy it!