Always the Devil Rays in my Mind - Tampa Bay Rays MLB13 Dynasty

[KBLover]

Myers Can't Do It All
Once Again, Myers is the Offense,
But He Can't Beat a Whole Team Himself.

The Rays scored four runs in this game. Myers accounted for three of them.

Too bad the pitching decided not to show up as it was another rough outing for Keyvius Sampson.

It just started bad in the first inning and the Rangers jumped on him. The big blow was a two-run home run off the bat of Moreland, who had a monster night.

This big fly helped power the Rangers to a quick 3-0 lead.

Ogando was getting a lot of pop ups and routine flyballs from the Rays early on, but Longoria and Myers finally got the Rays on the board.

Longoria shot a ball off Ogando that ended up being an infield single. Myers sat on a 2-0 pitch and looked fastball. He got one and drilled it to right field to make it a 3-2 game. The home run puts Myers at 13 home runs already as his insane start to the year continues.

Myers continues to pound the ball. Where would the Rays be without
this amazing start? His 13 HR are joined by a still .400 average.

Sadly, any thoughts of clawing back into the game quickly went by the wayside. Sampson just couldn't find the handle on his pitches, nor could he find ways to minimize the damage.

The fifth inning saw him get two fly outs, but he gave up a double to Moreland, and that started another snowball effect. Betemit drew a walk to put runners on first and second. They would both be chased home by Singleton's 2-RBI triple.

This was the nail in the coffin. Sampson would give up another run
after this triple to put an end to his horrid night.

From there it only got uglier and the Rays would fall 9-4. The team is starting to get worried about the lack of pitching. The bullpen has floundered and only half of the rotation, depending on which Matt Moore shows up, has carried its weight consistently.

Pringle is continuing to do well at the top of the order, one of the few positives in the game. He went 3-for-4 with a double. The downside was that he was caught stealing twice. Still, it was a good night. Andrus is still struggling mightily, and the two will likely switch spots in the lineup.

"We need Elvis to get back on track. This offense goes better when he's slapping the ball everywhere. Got to get him going again, " Maddon spoke.

9-10. That's the Rays aside from that hot first 10 games.

Player of the Game:

4-for-5, 2 R, 3 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI

Game Recap:

Tampa Bay Rays at Texas Rangers
May 7, 2015	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Tampa Bay (18-10)	0	0	0	2	0	0	1	1	0	4	9	0
Texas (16-12)	3	0	0	0	3	2	0	1	X	9	14	1
W: Ogando (2-0) L: Sampson (4-2)

Tampa Bay Rays
HITTERS	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	AVG
Pringle, CF	4	1	3	0	0	0	.278
Myers, LF	4	1	2	3	0	0	.415
TOTALS	33	4	9	4	3	8

Tampa Bay Rays
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Sampson	4.2	9	6	6	2	5	5.14
TOTALS	8	14	9	9	3	11

Texas Rangers
HITTERS	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	AVG
Moreland, 1B	5	2	4	3	0	0	.323
Kinsler, 2B	5	2	2	2	0	0	.333
TOTALS	38	9	14	9	3	11

Texas Rangers
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Ogando	7	8	4	4	3	7	4.60
TOTALS	9	9	4	4	3	8

[KBLover]

Myers vs Moreland
Both Hitters Try to Lead Their Team
to Victory.

The Rays looked for a bounce back as they try to regain some sort of rhythm.

Early, the Rays got a 1-0 lead as Pringle came through with a sac fly in the third inning.

That started a run of scoring for the Rays. The fourth inning delivered two runs, thanks to Pinto hitting a home run that hit off the left field foul pole.

Pinto watches as his drive down the line slices towards the foul pole.

The home run made the score 3-0. The Rangers picked up a run in the bottom of the fourth when Cruz doubled home Gentry.

With the score 3-1, the Rays ended up loading the bases in the fifth. Ruiz reached base via a walk. Shaffer, who was giving Longoria the night off, bunted Ruiz over to second. Pringle battled for seven pitches and worked another walk. Andrus picked up a single. With one out and slow Ruiz heading to third, the Rays took no chances on scoring.

Good thing, because it wasn't necessary.

Myers, again, came up with a clutch hit to drive in runs. This time, the ball stayed in the park and split the outfielders for a bases-clearing double and 3 RBI.

Myers stands at second after stretching the Rays lead to five runs.

Turns out, those runs would be quite necessary.

McQueen was starting to wear down in the sixth, and he got into a jam. He gave up a walk to Sizemore and a single to Gentry to put two on with one out. Cruz hit what looked to be a double play ball to Shaffer, but the rookie third baseman airmailed Manuel with the throw. Zobrist was able to back up nicely, but runners were on the corners.

The Rangers' own clutch hitter, Moreland, stepped up to the plate. McQueen seemed shaken a bit by the error and, perhaps even worse, the tiring young pitcher had to throw more pitches when the double play would have ended the inning.

McQueen had to work carefully, or at least he tried to. However, he hung a sinker and Moreland jumped all over it. He hit a high drive to right field. Zobrist went back but could only look up in vain as the Rangers cut the lead to 6-4.

Zobrist head back to the wall, but there would be nothing he could do on this
home run by Moreland.

The Rays bullpen had to go to work and hold the lead. Arodyz Vizcaino was the first one out, and he continued to show his electric stuff. Vizcaino worked two innings, struck out two, and gave up nothing in the runs column. Jones worked the 8th with similar success.

The Rangers bullpen also rose to the task, keeping the Rays clamped down.

In the 9th, McGee got the call. It was almost instant trouble as the first pitch McGee threw was laced into right field.

Zobrist tracked the hard sinking liner and laid out for a diving catch. The risky play paid off this time.

Zobrist makes a defensive gem as he bails out McGee to start the 9th.

Fortunately, there would be no further issues out of McGee as he picked up only his sixth save of the year. He also looked more like the stopper the Rays hoped to see.

Player of the Game

2-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 3 RBI

Game Recap:

Tampa Bay Rays at Texas Rangers
May 8, 2015	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Tampa Bay (18-11)	0	0	1	2	3	0	0	0	0	6	6	1
Texas (17-12)	0	0	0	1	0	3	0	0	0	4	9	0
W: McQueen (4-2) L: Balester (1-3) S: McGee (6)

Tampa Bay Rays
HITTERS	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	AVG
Pinto, C	4	1	1	2	0	2	.290
Myers, LF	4	1	2	3	0	0	.418
TOTALS	31	6	6	6	3	9

Tampa Bay Rays
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
McQueen	5	7	4	3	1	3	3.92
TOTALS	9	9	4	3	1	6

Texas Rangers
HITTERS	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	AVG
Gentry, LF	4	2	2	0	0	1	.261
Moreland, 1B	4	1	1	3	0	0	.320
TOTALS	35	4	9	4	1	6

Texas Rangers
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Balester	4.1	4	6	6	3	3	5.45
TOTALS	9	6	6	6	3	9

[KBLover]

Spoiler

(side note: I ordered MLB14 today, so it should be here perhaps before the end of this week - when it arrives, I probably won't be able to keep this going since I won't have time to play two franchises in-depth, let alone on two different games. This will keep going until the game arrives, though)

Rays and Rangers in Tight Game
Both Starters Have One Bad Inning to
Create a Tight Affair.

In this game, both Yu Darvish and David Price had their issues, and both got burned by one poor inning.

For Darvish, it came in third inning. The bottom of the Rays order actually did something productive. Manuel and Ruiz drew walks and Fuld picked up a single to load the bases with no one out.

Pringle delivered a sac fly to put the first run of the game one the board. Andrus followed with a single just out of Darvish's reach. That drove in a pair as Fuld stole second during the at-bat.

Andrus comes through with a good single to give the
Rays a 3-0 lead.

Myers delivered an RBI double to stretch the lead to 4-0 when all was said and done. The Rangers grabbed a run in the bottom of the fourth on a Cruz double to make it 4-1.

Then, it was Price's turn to run into trouble.

The fifth inning got rolling when Ruiz was too slow getting out of his crouch on a little bouncer by the plate. Martin beat out the play for an one-out infield single. Gentry followed with a single and then Choo struck out.

Price couldn't find that third out, though. Cruz picked up another RBI, and then Moreland did it again. He hit another 3-run home run. This gave the Rangers a 5-4 lead.

A dejected Price can only look to the ground as the
Rangers circled the bases on the Moreland long ball.

Price worked his way out of the fifth, but the damage was done.

Darvish battled through another inning despite the Rays running up the pitch count. He exited with six innings worked and a 5-4 lead.

Both bullpens were again strong in support of their respective starters. Jones went two innings again and Thatcher worked the 8th. The Rangers got strong outings from Lindblom and Oviedo. The game stayed at 5-4 with the Rays coming up for their final at-bat.

Miguel Manuel stroked a lead off single, but Ruiz failed to get the bunt down and ended up striking out. Zobrist pinch-hit for Fuld but could only strike out as well.

That brought Pringle to the plate needing to keep the game going. The rookie outfield ripped a ball that looked like it might be extra bases. If it fell and got through the gap, it might have been an exciting play at the plate to see if the Rangers would win or Rays would tie.

Oh, it was an exciting play alright...just not that one.

Instead, Cruz flat out robbed Pringle with a great last-minute dive on the sinking liner. The exceptional play ended the ballgame.

Cruz displays his glove as he lays out to end the game.

A frustrated Pringle slammed his helmet into the ground and Manuel, ready to run as hard as he was physically able, could only throw his hands up in frustration.

The Rays are in jeopardy of losing another series as the up-and-down play continues. They will attempt to salvage the split with tomorrow's game.

In other news, Wil Myers is now batting .430. He picked up three of the team's seven hits. He is currently on a 10-game hitting streak.

Player of the Game

1-for-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI

Game Recap:

Tampa Bay Rays at Texas Rangers
May 9, 2015	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Tampa Bay (19-11)	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	7	0
Texas (17-13)	0	0	1	0	4	0	0	0	X	5	9	0
W: Darvish (2-1) L: Price (2-3) S: Soria (4)

Tampa Bay Rays
HITTERS	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	AVG
Manuel, 2B	3	1	2	0	1	0	.248
Myers, LF	4	0	3	1	0	1	.430
TOTALS	33	4	7	4	3	8

Tampa Bay Rays
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Price	5	9	5	5	2	5	3.59
TOTALS	8	9	5	5	2	7

Texas Rangers
HITTERS	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	AVG
Cruz, RF	4	1	3	2	0	0	.297
Moreland, 1B	4	1	1	3	0	1	.317
TOTALS	31	5	9	5	2	7

Texas Rangers
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Darvish	6	5	4	4	3	5	4.93
TOTALS	9	7	4	4	3	8

[KBLover]

Fighting for the Split
A Much Needed Day Off to Come,
the Rays Fight to Even Series.

The Rays may be looking past this game and towards the off-day, the first one in a good while for the team. Signs of fatigue have shown up, but there was a baseball game to play.

The Rays came out fighting right off the bat. Pringle and Andrus drew walks to get things going. After Longoria struck out, Myers hit a drive off the wall in left-center field. Only one run scored as the runners held to make sure it wasn't caught.

No matter, because Zobrist started what would be an exceptional day with a line drive to right to score two runs.

The pitch might have been a bit high, but, looking for the
sac fly, Zobrist attacked the pitch and ended up with a sharp single.

In the third inning, Zobrist came up again with two runners on. This time, he smacked a long flyball to left field. It cleared the wall by plenty for a 3-run home run. That put the Rays up 6-1, and Zobrist accounted for five of those six runs on his two hits.

Zobrist picks up his third home run of the season, this
one driving in three runs.

Zobrist ended up with four hits and a triple short of the cycle.

"I was just seeing the ball well today and put good swings on the ball all day. Sometimes things work out for you and I'm glad we were able to take advantage, " Zobrist commented.

Moore was doing his thing. He continued to look as though he turned a corner, pitching with much more command. He didn't have a prolific day with the strikeouts, picking up just four, but he was on target most of the game.

He did start to wear down in the seventh. He would leave with a man on after 6 1/3 innings of work and a 6-2 lead.

Feliz came in and, unlike Moore, has not looked like he's figured anything out. He promptly gave up a couple singles to plate another run for the Rangers. With the bases loaded, Feliz got a 6-4-3 double play to get the Rays out of the jam.

Andrus is batting just .230, but his defense has largely
been steady and very productive.

With a tired bullpen, McGee was about the freshest arm in the pen. Maddon turned the game over to McGee, and the reliever delivered. McGee worked 1 2/3 innings to finish the game, giving up nothing but a lone single in the process. The Rays won the game 7-3 to manage a split series.

Player of the Game

4-for-5, 1 R, 1 HR, 5 RBI

Game Recap:

Tampa Bay Rays at Texas Rangers
May 10, 2015	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Tampa Bay (19-12)	3	0	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	7	13	0
Texas (17-14)	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	3	9	0
W: Moore (5-1) L: Holland (2-3)

Tampa Bay Rays
HITTERS	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	AVG
Zobrist, RF	5	1	4	5	0	0	.311
Myers, DH	4	2	2	1	1	1	.432
TOTALS	35	7	13	7	7	7

Tampa Bay Rays
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Moore	6.1	6	3	3	0	4	3.45
TOTALS	9	9	3	3	0	5

Texas Rangers
HITTERS	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	AVG
Singleton, 1B	4	1	2	0	0	0	.301
Kinsler, 2B	4	1	2	1	0	1	.316
TOTALS	36	3	9	3	0	5

Texas Rangers
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Holland	3	6	6	6	4	2	3.59
TOTALS	9	13	7	7	7	7

[KBLover]

Quick, Tightly Pitched Game
Bats Didn't Have Much Pop,
But Rays Use Early Lead to Win 3-0.

The Rays got the offense going early on. Pringle picked up a single and stole second. Andrus moved him along to third and then Longoria hit a routine fly to left to bring Pringle home.

In the second inning, Zobrist picked up another home run, this one a 2-run home run. That made the score 3-0.

And that would be about the last hit the Rays would get in the game as Shields clamped down and the Indians' bullpen was equally tough.

Critical Moment:

Guerrieri induces a chopper back to the mound and flips the ball
to Ruiz in time for the catcher to brace for impact and get the out.

The Indians had something going in the first, but that would be the best chance against Guerrieri. It could have been a big inning, or at least gotten them on the board first and maybe gain momentum. Instead, Guerrieri gets the out at the plate and would get the final out without anything on the board and the young pitcher's confidence still intact.

Guerrieri threw six shutout innings. Jones and McGee split the last three innings to seal the win.

Pringle had a couple hits as did Zobrist. Myers went 0-for-3, snapping his 11-game hitting streak.

Player of the Game:

6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K

Game Recap:

Cleveland Indians at Tampa Bay Rays
May 11, 2015	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Cleveland (11-19)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	1
Tampa Bay (20-12)	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	X	3	5	0
W: Guerrieri (5-0) L: Shields (1-2) S: McGee (7)

Cleveland Indians
HITTERS	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	AVG
Brantley, LF	3	0	1	0	1	0	.330
Olt, DH	3	0	1	0	0	0	.260
TOTALS	30	0	3	0	2	7

Cleveland Indians
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Shields	6	4	3	2	1	6	2.81
TOTALS	8	5	3	2	2	7

Tampa Bay Rays
HITTERS	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	AVG
Zobrist, RF	2	1	2	2	1	0	.322
Pringle, CF	4	1	2	0	0	2	.270
TOTALS	27	3	5	3	2	7

Tampa Bay Rays
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Guerrieri	6	3	0	0	2	3	1.96
TOTALS	9	3	0	0	2	7

[KBLover]

O's and Dodgers Make Trade

The O's have parted ways with SP prospect Dylan Bundy, sending him to the Dodgers for a pair of prospects in return: 3B Scott Ettlin and RF Claudio Cervantes.

Both Ettlin and Cervantes are well-liked by scouts, carrying "A" potential ratings. Ettlin is only 18 years old while Cervantes is 20. Both are relatively raw with Cervantes looking closer to the majors at this point.

Bundy has struggled, both on the field and with his development. While graded at 86 out of 100, his skill ratings do not look terribly imposing. His command continues to be mediocre and he can have issues locating in the zone. Combine that with over 5.00 ERAs in the past two seasons and again so far this year, and the O's probably decided to see if someone else can do something with him.

The O's probably jumped the gun, but at least the rotation might still be fine going forward. A lot of pressure on those two prospects, though, especially if the Dodgers get Bundy's head on straight.

[KBLover]

MLB14 arrived today, so I think that closes the book here. Going to miss Pringle, McQueen, etc.

The question for me will be if I have the time to put the work in a dynasty deserves. I don't know how much longer the play at 2 AM (or later) and do the recap paradigm will hold up.

I can't seem to come up with a short-form format that includes pictures to my liking either. The last one was okay - probably the one I'd favor going forward.

But even that felt lacking.

So - not sure what I'll do in regards to a MLB14 dynasty.