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

[KBLover]

Price Leads the Way
Ace Throws 4-Hit Shutout to Best Strong
Outing From Santana. Rays Win 2-0.

Both Ervin Santana and David Price were on the ball today.

Santana had his slider working as his out pitch, tantalizing the Rays hitters with it through his 6 innings of work. The Rays couldn't get the timing down on the pitch and the sharp movement induce many instances of chasing pitches and poor contact.

Santana made just a few bad pitches with the slider, one of them going for a 2-out double by Kelly Johnson that scored James Loney for the 1st Rays run.

Meanwhile, David Price worked all five of his pitches in various spots to keep the Royals off-balance. Price gave up a couple walks to go with the 4 hits, and struck out 9.

"I felt good out there. I was able to pick my spots and hit my spots and stay unpredictable. That's the key to pitching and I was able to make it happen today. Jose [Molina] called a great game. He deserves a lot of the credit, " Price spoke.

The win overshadows another slow day for the bats. Is this the start of a team-wide slump brewing?


Game Recap:

Tampa Bay Rays at Kansas City Royals
May 2, 2013	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Tampa Bay (18-10)	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	6	0
Kansas City (10-16)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	1

Tampa Bay Rays
HITTERS	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	AVG
Loney, 1B	4	1	2	1	0	0	.337
Johnson, 2B	4	0	2	1	0	2	.342
TOTALS	32	2	6	2	3	10
BATTING 2B: Johnson, Jennings HBP: Zobrist
BASERUNNING CS: Jennings

Tampa Bay Rays
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Price (W, 2-2)	9	4	0	0	2	9	2.10
TOTALS	9	4	0	0	2	9

Kansas City Royals
HITTERS	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	AVG
Francoeur, RF	2	0	1	0	1	0	.228
Tejada, DH	3	0	1	0	0	0	.333
TOTALS	29	0	4	0	2	9
BATTING GIDP: Escobar
BASERUNNING CS: Francoeur
FIELDING E: Butler

Kansas City Royals
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Santana (L, 1-5)	6	3	1	1	3	8	5.45
Crow	1.2	2	1	1	0	1	9.77
Gutierrez	1.1	1	0	0	0	1	4.00
TOTALS	9	6	2	2	3	10

[KBLover]

Trade Rumors Begin

The Yankees fired the first salvo of trade rumors by putting it out there that Robinson Cano might be available.

Interest is being rumored to be increasing for the services of Fernando Rodney. Of course, he was put on the block when he was blowing saves in the closer role. Since moving to middle relief, he's been far more reliable to this point. Does that just make him more inviting to other teams, or make him stick around?

Henry Rodriguez is available from the Nats, according to reports. The flamethrowing reliever might be drawing interest from the Rays as well. Drew Storen is another interesting reliever.

Jordan Zimmerman is also on the block for rumors. That said, it's unlikely the Rays have the pieces to put anything together.

Other notables include RP Jonny Venters (Braves), SP Andy Pettite (Yankees), LF Vernon Wells (Yankees), CF Jackie Bradley, Jr (Red Sox).

[KBLover]

One Rally Was Enough
Rays Score Four in the Fourth to Back
Hellickson to a 4-1 Win.

The Rays are not hitting very much right now, but in this one they did all their damage in basically one inning.

Joyce got the start and, of course, didn't get any hits. He did generate two walks, the second of which started the 5th inning rally.

He was promptly tripled home by Ben Zobrist, one of his two hits. Kelly Johnson hit a grounder to third that was thrown away to put him into scoring position with the Rays up 2-0.

Jennings slapped a sinker back through the box for an RBI single to make it a 3-0 Rays lead.

Jennings then wasted no time taking off for second base. He swiped the bag as the throw was off-line.

Escobar finished the rally with an RBI single of his own. That was the end of Volstad, the Rockies' starter...and the Rays scoring.

After that, the junkballing Jeff Francis came in - and completely baffled the Rays' hitters. He worked three excellent innings, giving up just two hits. Brothers came in and overpowered the Rays' hitters. No strikeouts for the strikeout reliever, but no hits allowed either.

Meanwhile, Hellickson had worked himself into trouble. He got into a bases-loaded jam in the 7th with no one out. It looked like the typical meltdown was eminent.

Hellickson induced a ground ball Gonzalez that went to Escobar. Instead of trying for the double play, Escobar fired the ball to the plate. The throw was in time to get the runner heading home.

Another ground ball like that might end the inning, but instead Tulowitzki lofted a fly ball to deep left field. The run scored with easy and it was runners at 1st and 2nd with two outs now.

Maddon gave Hellickson a chance to finish off the inning, though he had Dillard and Peralta ready in the bullpen. Hellickson could not get the job done as he gave up an infield single to load the bases once more. He was too slow getting to the bag after a tough stop by Loney and Colvin beat out the throw.

Having seen enough, Maddon went out to get his starter before the inning imploded. He summon Peralta to try to put out the fire.

Peralta got the job done by getting Rosario to ground out for the third out of the inning. He would stay in to work the 8th and had no problems. His job was done.

The Rays' bats still couldn't solve the Rockies' relief corps. Belisle finished off two solid innings of relief and the bullpen all together went 6 innings with 0 runs allowed on 4 hits with no walks and 5 strikeouts.

Jeff McGee came on for the save, and picked up his 5th save with a solid 9th inning. He lowered his ERA on the season to 0.79. The Rays as a team have a 3.36 ERA so far.


Game Recap:

Tampa Bay Rays at Colorado Rockies
May 3, 2013	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Tampa Bay (19-10)	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	4	9	0
Colorado (11-19)	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	8	1

Tampa Bay Rays
HITTERS	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	AVG
Jennings, RF	4	1	2	1	0	1	.255
Zobrist, 3B	4	1	2	1	0	1	.318
TOTALS	34	4	9	4	3	7
BATTING 3B: Podsednik, Zobrist, Jennings SAC: Hellickson
BASERUNNING SB: Podsednik, Jennings

Tampa Bay Rays
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Hellickson (W, 3-0)	6.2	7	1	1	0	5	4.05
Peralta (H, 5)	1.1	0	0	0	0	1	4.59
McGee (S, 5)	1	1	0	0	0	1	0.79
TOTALS	9	8	1	1	0	7

Colorado Rockies
HITTERS	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	AVG
Gonzalez, LF	4	1	2	0	0	2	.326
Herrera, 3B	3	0	2	0	0	0	.200
TOTALS	34	1	8	1	0	7
BATTING 2B: Gonzalez 2
FIELDING E: Tulowitzki

Colorado Rockies
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Volstad (L, 1-3)	3	5	4	4	3	2	6.41
Francis	3	2	0	0	0	3	3.60
Brothers	1	0	0	0	0	0	5.00
Belisle	2	2	0	0	0	2	3.66
TOTALS	9	9	4	4	3	7

[KBLover]

Joyce Grumbles

"I'm not getting any sort of a chance to work myself into the game. Sure, I'm struggling, but how do they expect me to break out of it with so few chances to hit? I guess they want to go in a different direction with how other guys get plenty of chances, " Joyce spoke after the Rays' last game.

Joyce has seen infrequent playing time and even a rookie, Wil Myers, try to displace the struggling outfielder.

Jason Bourgeois, another outfielder that was brought up, has worked his way back into a decent batting average. Desmond Jennings isn't exactly making a lot of people happy, but he is over .240.

Scott Podsednik, signed to "increase depth" has done more than that as he's been by far the best performer among outfielders aside from Shelley Duncan, who is mostly a platoon player at DH because of his defense.

Matt Joyce is currently hitting .157. He's not showing much signs of breaking out of any sort of slump when he does play.

There are conflicting reports of Joyce being shopped after his latest comments. For his part, he doesn't seem to broken up about being traded.

"Maybe I'd get to play more than once every few days or when they can't find 'someone better' to play instead of me, " Joyce spoke when asked about being traded, "If they send me somewhere that I can play everyday, I'll sign off on whatever to make it happen."

"Or they could just put me in the lineup like I deserve. That works too, " Joyce added.

[Deuce2223]

Looks like Joyce is not only talking his way from getting into the lineup, but talking his way off the team..

[KBLover]

No Chance Against De La Rosa
Speed Tried to Jumpstart Offense, But Not
Enough in the End. Rays Upset 6-2.

The Rays haven't found those bats just yet. Chris Archer put up a solid outing, lasting 6 2/3 innings, but found himself behind 3-2.

Tim Dillard started off doing well, getting the last out of the 7th.

Then the Rays got Bourgeois on with a hit-by-pitch, but he was thrown out on a perfect throw by the catcher. Jennings hit a routine grounder anyway, probably would have been a double play, even the speed involved.

Dillard's outing got bad in a hurry as he gave up 3 runs in the 8th to really dig the Rays in a hole.

The speedsters at the top of the order accounted for both runs scored. Bourgeois led off the 6th with a triple. Jennings walked to follow it up and then attempted to steal second. The throw went over the head of the second baseman, allowing Bourgeois to score. Luke Scott slashed a liner down the left field line for an RBI double.

The Rays might be beginning to feel the loss of Longoria and no power to replace him. Shelley Duncan has also cooled off, and he was a big part of why the power production was doing okay. Zobrist's surprising HR power has cooled off as well.


Game Recap:

Tampa Bay Rays at Colorado Rockies
May 4, 2013	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Tampa Bay (20-10)	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	2	3	0
Colorado (11-19)	0	1	0	0	1	0	1	3	X	6	10	2

Tampa Bay Rays
HITTERS	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	AVG
Bourgeois, CF	2	1	1	0	1	0	.250
Scott, 1B	4	0	2	1	0	1	.283
TOTALS	28	2	3	1	3	10
BATTING 2B: Scott 3B: Bourgeois HBP: Bourgeois SAC: Archer GIDP: Zobrist
BASERUNNING SB: Bourgeois, Jennings CS: Bourgeois

Tampa Bay Rays
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Archer (L, 2-1)	6.2	7	3	3	3	7	2.05
Dillard	1.1	3	3	3	0	0	6.00
TOTALS	8	10	6	6	3	7

Colorado Rockies
HITTERS	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	AVG
Fowler, CF	4	1	2	1	0	0	.241
Tulowitzki, SS	3	2	2	1	1	0	.295
TOTALS	33	6	10	6	3	7
BATTING 2B: Fowler 3B: Gonzalez, Colvin, Young Jr. HR: Tulowitzki HBP: Rutledge GIDP: Pacheco
FIELDING E: Rosario, Rutledge

Colorado Rockies
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
De La Rosa (W, 1-3)	7	3	2	2	3	8	3.82
Lopez (H, 2)	1	0	0	0	0	1	2.25
Rodriguez	1	0	0	0	0	1	3.00
TOTALS	9	3	2	2	3	10

[KBLover]

Sac Flies and Extra Bases
Rays Piece Runs Together and Get Strong
Effort From Moore for 7-1 Win.

This is what the Rays are going to have to do. They are going to have to put innings together and score without hits when they can and try for line drives instead of home runs.

Of the four runs that scored in the 4th inning, two of them scored on sacrifice flies. In fact, they were back-to-back sac flies by Escobar and Molina.

After that, the Rays used extra bases to help get single runs in the 5th, 7th and 8th innings. One of those extra base hits came on a HR by the disgruntled Matt Joyce, who started in place of Jennings.

The most surprising extra base hit was a triple by Matt Moore of all people. He drove in Bourgeois and scored on Podsednik's lone hit on the day.

Moore did the rest of his damage on the mound. He worked efficient innings, pitching to contact and keeping the ball in good locations for a change. That enabled him to get the complete game and throw an excellent game despite just four strikeouts.

Zobrist had a 2-hit game as maybe he's starting to come back up. Kelly Johnson returned to the lineup after getting a day's rest and picked up two hits, a double and a triple. Perhaps his line drives and low fly balls are just hitting in the field of play instead of sneaking over the walls. As long as they don't find gloves, the team will take it.

Johnson's power has been one of the early season surprises. His slugging percentage will remain in the mid .500s after his performance today.

Game Recap:

Tampa Bay Rays at Colorado Rockies
May 5, 2013	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Tampa Bay (20-11)	0	0	0	4	1	0	1	1	0	7	13	0
Colorado (12-19)	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	7	0

Tampa Bay Rays
HITTERS	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	AVG
Joyce, RF	4	1	2	1	1	0	.181
Escobar, SS	3	0	2	2	0	0	.263
TOTALS	36	7	13	7	3	6
BATTING 2B: Johnson, Molina, Escobar 3B: Johnson, Moore HR: Joyce HBP: Zobrist SF: Molina, Escobar GIDP: Podsednik, Escobar
BASERUNNING SB: Bourgeois

Tampa Bay Rays
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Moore (W, 5-1)	9	7	1	1	0	4	3.52
TOTALS	9	7	1	1	0	4

Colorado Rockies
HITTERS	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	AVG
Nelson, 3B	4	0	2	0	0	0	.234
Pacheco, 1B	3	0	2	0	0	0	.250
TOTALS	34	1	7	1	0	4
BATTING 2B: Pacheco

Colorado Rockies
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Chacin (L, 3-4)	4.1	7	5	5	2	2	6.63
Garland	0.2	0	0	0	1	0	6.35
Belisle	2	1	1	1	0	2	3.73
Lopez	2	5	1	1	0	2	2.45
TOTALS	9	13	7	7	3	6

[KBLover]

Protecting the House
Rays Improve to 10-3 at Home As Bullpen Allows
Offense to Gradually Pull Away. Win 8-5.

Perhaps all the Rays needed was some home-cooked meals and time with families. They came out with some energy, especially at the plate. Unfortunately, Cobb didn't get any domestic benefits as he struggled.

The top of the Jays order was all over just about anyone who threw at them, but they got things going quickly as Jose Reyes started with a double and then was singled home by Melky Cabrera.

Bourgeois helped get the run right back as he reached on an infield single, stole second, and then scored on Podsednik's single up the middle.

Podsednik stole second as well in the inning, and although he didn't score, it might have thrown off starter Mark Buehrle as he could get no rhythm at all.

Both pitchers escaped the second unharmed, but Cobb gave up a run in the third inning. Luke Scott put the Rays back on top with a 2-run HR in the bottom of the third.

But Cobb couldn't keep the Jays off the board. Reyes struck again with a triple this time and he scored on the bat of Bautista this time. But the Rays got the run right back on a Kelly Johnson single that scored Zobrist.

Cobb got in trouble again in the 5th and was pulled in favor of Oviedo. It looked bad to start with for Oviedo, and one run scored off him that was charged to Cobb.

But the Rays struck again off Buehrle, the finishing blow was a 2-run triple by Escobar. This gave the Rays a 6-4 lead and chased Buehrle from the game.

The bullpens matched each other with scoreless 6th and 7th innings. In the 8th, the Rays scored two more - one via Kelly Johnson's HR and another being pieced together and scoring on a Jennings sacrifice fly.

Fernando Rodney was in the game at this point and he stayed in to finish it off with the game at a 4-run lead (though McGee was ready if needed). Rodney gave up a bomb to Jose Bautista to make it 8-5, but that would be as close as the Jays would get.

In all, the Rays bullpen gave up just 1 run, the Bautista HR, and allowed 1 inherited runner to score over 5 innings of work.


Game Recap

Toronto Blue Jays at Tampa Bay Rays
May 6, 2013	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Toronto (17-15)	1	0	1	1	1	0	0	0	1	5	13	0
Tampa Bay (21-11)	1	0	2	1	2	0	0	2	X	8	12	0

Toronto Blue Jays
HITTERS	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	AVG
Reyes, SS	5	2	2	0	0	0	.276
Bautista, RF	4	2	3	2	0	0	.333
TOTALS	39	5	13	5	0	6
BATTING 2B: Reyes, Bautista, Enarnacion, Lind 3B: Reyes HR: Bautista SF: Bautista
BASERUNNING SB: Lawrie

Toronto Blue Jays
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Buehrle (L, 1-6)	4.2	10	6	6	0	2	6.80
Rogers	2.2	2	2	2	0	1	3.85
Delabar	0.2	0	0	0	0	1	1.66
TOTALS	8	12	8	8	0	4

Tampa Bay Rays
HITTERS	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	AVG
Johnson, 2B	4	2	3	1	0	0	.355
Escobar, SS	4	1	2	2	0	0	.271
TOTALS	34	8	12	8	0	4
BATTING 3B: Escobar, Rodriguez HR: Scott, Johnson SF: Jennings SAC: Rodriguez
BASERUNNING SB: Bourgeois, Podsednik, Jennings

Tampa Bay Rays
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Cobb	4	8	4	4	0	1	4.50
Oviedo (W, 1-1)	2.2	3	0	0	0	3	2.25
Dillard (H, 2)	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	5.68
Rodney (S, 3)	2	2	1	1	0	2	3.21
TOTALS	9	13	5	5	0	6