'Know Thy Enemy': Tampa Bay Rays Franchise [MLB 13: The Show]

[BlueJays09]

yup tough loss for sure...interested to see what your going to do with Price!

[CBMerling]

Jeff Nieman allowed two hits in seven innings. Here he sits down Carlos Santana on strikes.

RAYS WIN WITH DOUBLES GALORE. ST. PETERSBURG, FL -- In front of a crowd of a little over 21,000 rabid Tampa Bay Rays' fans, it was phenomenal pitching and extra-base hits that propelled the Rays over the Indians in game two of their series, in a close battle, 2-1. But by looking on the scoreboard, you woudn't have figured the game was that close. Tampa Bay had 2 runs on 11 hits and the Indians mustered a run on two hits. "It should've been 5-1." said Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon at the end of the game. "Thankfully our pitching had a superb outing." Enough cannot be said about what former 2004 1st-rounder Jeff Neimann did on the mound this evening. He was phenomenal in his first win of the season, only allowing a run on two hits, walking two and striking out four tribesman. "Well, I was suprised as you. But I made sure I stayed ahead in the counts." remarked Niemann on his first victory on the season. Niemann was cruising until the seventh inning when he almost blew the lead. Cleveland Indian's left fielder Michael Brantley started the inning off, lining a single to right field. From there Niemann seemed to lose control for a short while, walking about Nick Swisher and Carlos Santana to load the bases with no outs. "Haha, yeah it did get kinda hectic." Niemann said. "But I'm glad it worked out or else I'd be getting an earful." With the bases loaded, Niemann sat down Jason Kipnis on strikes. He allowed one earned run on a Chisenhall grounder to second and managed to get Asdrubal Cabrerea to fly-out and end the inning. It could've been alot worse for the Rays. Fun fact, in the first five games of the season Tampa Bay pitching has only allowed nine runs to cross the plate. Talk about domination. Besides surrendering nine hits, Cleveland start Josh Tomlin wasn't too bad. He onyl allowed two earned over five and two-thirds inning. Rays second baseman Kelly Johnson was the sole runner to cross the plate twice on two seperate occasions. James Loney got him across on a ground-out and Yunel Escobar hit a double to the outfield to score him in the fifth. Johnson ended the night 2-3, while gathering those two runs. "Glad I could contribute. It was a close victory." said Johnson. The series finale commences tomorrow night, before Tampa Bay heads to Arlington to face the Texas Rangers. Aces of each team will take the mound to see who takes the series in this rubber match. Crafty veteran Brett Myers will take the rubber for Cleveland (0-1, 11.25 ERA), while David Price (0-0, 0.00 ERA) gets the call for the Tampa Bay Rays. Make sure you don't miss it!

Cleveland Indians at Tampa Bay Rays Apr 6, 2013 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Cleveland (2-3) 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 2 0 Tampa Bay (4-1) 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 X 2 11 0 Scoring Summary SCORING DETAILS CLE TAM TAM 3 Loney grounded out to Tomlin [1-3]. Johnson scores. 0 1 TAM 5 Escobar doubled to center. Johnson scores. 0 2 CLE 7 Chisenhall grounded out to Johnson [4-3]. Brantley scores. 1 2 Cleveland Indians HITTERS AB R H RBI BB SO HR AVG Bourn, CF 4 0 0 0 0 0 .091 Brantley, LF 4 1 1 0 0 0 .190 Swisher, 1B 3 0 0 0 1 1 .211 Santana, C 3 0 0 0 1 1 .278 Kipnis, 2B 4 0 0 0 0 2 .211 Chisenhall, 3B 3 0 1 1 0 0 .437 Cabrera, SS 3 0 0 0 0 0 .211 Aviles, DH 3 0 0 0 0 2 .222 Stubbs, RF 2 0 0 0 1 0 .000 TEAM TOTALS 29 1 2 1 3 6 BATTING: RBI: L. Chisenhall [2] Tampa Bay Rays HITTERS AB R H RBI BB SO HR AVG Jennings, CF 4 0 1 0 0 1 .167 Loney, DH 4 0 1 1 0 0 .313 Longoria, 3B 4 0 1 0 0 1 .300 Rodriguez, 1B 4 0 0 0 0 1 .125 Joyce, LF 4 0 2 0 0 0 .286 Zobrist, RF 4 0 1 0 0 0 .333 Molina, C 4 0 1 0 0 0 .133 Johnson, 2B 3 2 2 0 0 0 .400 Escobar, SS 3 0 2 1 0 0 .250 TEAM TOTALS 34 2 11 2 0 3 BATTING: 2B: D. Jennings [2], Y. Escobar [1], B. Zobrist [4], M. Joyce [1], K. Johnson [2] RBI: Y. Escobar [1], J. Loney [1] Cleveland Indians PITCHERS IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA J. Tomlin [L, 0-1] 5.2 9 2 2 0 2 3.18 M. Capps 2.1 2 0 0 0 1 0.00 TEAM TOTALS 8.0 11 2 2 0 3 Tampa Bay Rays PITCHERS IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA J. Niemann [W, 1-0] 7.0 2 1 1 2 4 1.29 J. Farnsworth [H, 2] 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 0.00 F. Rodney [S, 2] 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0.00 TEAM TOTALS 9.0 2 1 1 3 6

[WaitTilNextYear]

LOL. Your latest update says 21,000 "rabid" Rays fans. hahaha, I like it. Just didn't know "rabid" Rays fans existed!

Also, lovin' the Rays 'chise/dynasty idea. You have the talent level of a solid big market club but with the payroll restrictions of a tiny market team. It's kind of the best of both words with regard to contending/rebuilding.

It'll be interesting to see if you can keep pace in that tough division. Also, I'll be interested to see what happens to Price, and if/when Wil Myers gets the call.

I like the idea of a Rays 'chise so much that I might start one myself if I weren't enjoying (and sinking a ton of time into) my current Houston 'chise.

Definitely following this!

[CBMerling]

Quote: Originally Posted by WaitTilNextYear

LOL. Your latest update says 21,000 "rabid" Rays fans. hahaha, I like it. Just didn't know "rabid" Rays fans existed! Also, lovin' the Rays 'chise/dynasty idea. You have the talent level of a solid big market club but with the payroll restrictions of a tiny market team. It's kind of the best of both words with regard to contending/rebuilding. It'll be interesting to see if you can keep pace in that tough division. Also, I'll be interested to see what happens to Price, and if/when Wil Myers gets the call. I like the idea of a Rays 'chise so much that I might start one myself if I weren't enjoying (and sinking a ton of time into) my current Houston 'chise. Definitely following this!

Yes. It makes me chuckle about the 'rabid' statement, I have to try and make it believable. Florida is a baseball state. Haha! Who am I kidding? But I can say this, there are more 'rabid' Rays fans compared to them Miami Marlins.

I think smaller market teams have better chances in the AL than the NL. My goal over these various seasons, is to atleast always be contending.

In regards to call-ups. I think there should be some mid-season, especially if I trade Price to a World Series contender. Myers so far has been hammering the ball in AAA.

Right now for Price though, I think the best scenario is for Texas and trying to get after Jurickson Profar. Might look into getting a catcher also. Being a small market team, Tampa Bay can only REALLY hold 2 large contracts. Evan Longoria has the first.

At the end of the season, I don't even think I can still afford David Price. So it is basically inevitable that he'll be gone by mid-season. Zobrist or Joyce could be packaged in a deal, which could move Wil Myers into the majors.

Fun stuff to think about!

[Deuce2223]

In my franchise the Ray's just dealt their 2011 1st Round pick SP T. Guerrieri and top prospect C. Archer to the Braves for Catcher E. Gattis. Wishing I had 30-team control right now. Even though the Ray's need a catcher, I can't see them sending both guy's.

[CBMerling]

The Rays only managed two hits in the loss against Cleveland.

BATS ARE QUIET IN RAYS' LOSS. ST. PETERSBURG, FL. --- Rays' starter David Price (0-1, 2.03 ERA) tipped his hat as he walked off the mound to a heart ovation form the Tampa Bay crowd in the eighth inning. He would take the loss in the series finale to the Cleveland Indians, losing 1-3. Price pitched seven and a third's inning, while giving up three earned on three hits, and striking out three. The loss was not on his accord, as it seemed he had no supporting cast tonight. "Its tough." said Price, as he shook his head. Joe Maddon was calm and collected as usual, when he addressed the media. "David did a great job tonight. It was our bats that didn't show up and we paid for it in the end." he said. It seemed in today's ballgame that Brett Myers (1-1, 4.91 ERA) turned back the clock, as he pout out a superb outing after a disasterous opening day. He allowed a single run over seven innings, allowing his fellow tribesman to take the series at Tropicana Field. "We were under the ball all night. There were alot of flies." commented Rays center fielder Desmond Jennings. "This series was pretty bad offensively all together." Jennings, who drove in the only run of the day on a double to center to score Kelly Johnson, was 1 for 4 on the quick night. In the eighth inning there was thought that the Rays might get something going. Ben Zobrist started the innning off with a walk. This brought Indian's manager Terry Francona out from the dugout, as he made a pitching change. Vinnie Pestano took Myers' place on the mound and quickly sat down Tampa Bay catcher Jose Molina along with Kelly Johnson. Yunel Escobar hit a fly to left to end the inning. Chris Perez came into the ninth and closed the game quickly, earning his third save of the season. The Tampa Bay Rays might be missing clean-up hitter Luke Scott, who sat out the series with a bruised hand. His replacement Sean Rodriguez, had an RBI in his first game, but came out of the series with the Indians batting a meager .091 with three strikeouts. Joe Maddon and the Tampa Bay Rays hope they can turn things around as they begin a 10-game roadie starting at the Ballpark in Arlington against the Texas Rangers (4-2). Matt Moore (1-0, 1.29 ERA) will make his second appearance on the season as he faces Texas' Alexi Ogando (1-0, 0.00 ERA). It will be a pivotal series, as they'll head to Fenway after Texas, to face their division-rivals, the Boston Red Sox.

Cleveland Indians at Tampa Bay Rays Apr 7, 2013 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Cleveland (3-3) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 3 5 0 Tampa Bay (4-2) 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 2 0 W: B. Myers L: D. Price S: C. Perez Scoring Summary SCORING DETAILS CLE TAM CLE 4 Swisher homered to right. 1 0 TAM 6 Jennings doubled to center. Johnson scores. 1 1 CLE 8 Bourn grounded to right for a single. Cabrera scores. Stubbs scores. 3 1 Cleveland Indians HITTERS AB R H RBI BB SO HR AVG Bourn, CF 4 0 1 2 0 1 .115 Brantley, LF 4 0 0 0 0 0 .160 Swisher, 1B 4 1 1 1 0 0 .217 Santana, C 4 0 0 0 0 1 .227 Cabrera, SS 4 1 2 0 0 0 .261 Aviles, DH 4 0 0 0 0 0 .182 Stubbs, RF 3 1 1 0 0 0 .059 Raburn, 2B 2 0 0 0 0 1 .000 1-Kipnis, PR-2B 0 0 0 0 0 0 .211 Chisenhall, 3B 3 0 0 0 0 1 .368 TEAM TOTALS 32 3 5 3 0 4 BATTING: HBP: N. Swisher [2] RBI: M. Bourn 2 [2]. N. Swisher [3] HBP: R. Raburn BASERUNNING: SB: A. Cabrera [1] Tampa Bay Rays HITTERS AB R H RBI BB SO HR AVG Jennings, CF 4 0 1 1 0 0 .182 Loney, DH 4 0 0 0 0 1 .250 Longoria, 3B 4 0 0 0 0 0 .250 Rodriguez, 1B 3 0 0 0 0 1 .091 Joyce, LF 3 0 0 0 0 0 .235 Zobrist, RF 2 0 0 0 1 0 .300 Molina, C 3 0 0 0 0 2 .111 Johnson, 2B 3 1 1 0 0 1 .389 Escobar, SS 3 0 0 0 0 0 .211 TEAM TOTALS 29 1 2 1 1 5 BATTING: 2B: D. Jennings [3], K. Johnson [3] RBI: D. Jennings [2] Cleveland Indians PITCHERS IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA B. Myers [W, 1-1] 7.0 2 1 1 1 3 4.91 V. Pestano [H, 2] 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 0.00 C. Perez [S, 3] 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 TEAM TOTALS 9.0 2 1 1 1 5 Tampa Bay Rays PITCHERS IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA D. Price [L, 0-1] 7.1 3 3 3 0 3 2.03 R. Hernandez 1.2 2 0 0 0 1 0.00 TEAM TOTALS 9.0 5 3 3 0 4

[Deuce2223]

Price is going to have to get some W's if you want top dollar for him. Tough loss. I think if I was a MLB pitcher I would want to be the #5 so I could face the other team's bench players and their scrub pitcher.

[CBMerling]

I can only hope that getting outta Tropicana Field for 10 games can get this team going again. Cleveland series was atrocious in terms of offense. Luke Scott needs to come back to the lineup so I can get some more power.

Night games and day games are all the same under the roof of the Tropicana DOME. Looking forward to the road games.

Agreed about David Price getting some wins. He left the seventh with two runners on the corners. Roberto Hernandez came in and hit Ryan Rayburn with a pitch, loaded the bases, and then Michael Bourn slapped a hard single between first and second. Two came across, leaving Price with 3 ER on the outing.

Funny thing is, I had Jose Molina batting and took my first ball. I told myself to keep an eye out for Pestano's sliding curve....and the next pitch, I chased it out of the zone. Hahaha! That hitting reticule was so small on that pitch also, I had no chance.