The Hangover: Bullpen Does Their Job Against The Indians

Devil Rays 6, Cleveland 5.
After last night’s victory the Rays have another opportunity to win a series when James Shields takes the mound. Last night the Rays battled back from an early 2-0 deficit and rebounded after blowing a 5-2 lead. Jae Seo picked up just his second win as a Devil Ray, but gave up 5 runs in 6 innings. Four pitchers combined to shut down the Indians over the last 3 innings, including another perfect 9th by Al Reyes for his 6th save in 6 chances. Ty Wigginton went 3-4 with his 4th homer and Delmon Young and BJ Upton each added 2 hits. Upton raised his average to .340.

• Ben Zobrist was dropped form the 2-hole to the 8th spot. In reality, he should just be happy he was in the lineup. Without BenZo in the lineup, Joe Maddon will utilize the spot much differently.
• Travis Hafner continues to beat up on the Rays.
• The Rays have only had one game decided by more than 4 runs (12-5 loss to Twins).
• Everybody loves the Rays lineup. So do we, but it is like icing on a cake. The icing is great, but doesn’t do much without a cake to cover. The Rays are still the only team in baseball with an ERA over 6.
• Everybody.
• Jake Westbrook goes to the mound for the Indians today. In his last start, his first after signing a contract extension, he gave up three home runs and 8 runs in 1.2 innings.
• A Mets fan actually attended a game at the Trop before passing judgment and came to the conclusion that it is not that bad.
• Should we feel bad for the interpreter when he tells the press that Aki Iwamura wants to speak English fluently? When that happens, the interpreter is out of a job.
• If you were running the Devil Rays, what would your 2009 lineup look like?

The Hangover: Edwin Jackson Not Strong In Loss

Indians 4, Devil Rays 3.
The headline reads “Jackson strong in loss”. What? When a starting pitcher walks 5 batters, that is not a strong performance. Yes, we know that 2 of those walks were intentional, but 3 walks in 6 innings is still not “strong”. When a pitcher has to be removed after the 6th inning with 108 pitches, that is not “strong”. When a pitcher leaves the game with his team losing 3-2, that is not “strong”. 6 innings, 5 hits, 5 walks, 3 runs and a home run is not the definition of a quality start. We hope Mr. Jackson would agree with us.

• Despite giving up a double and a walk to start the 9th, Juan Salas appears to have done enough recently to become the second set-up man in the bullpen.
• The Rays are still atrocious on the base paths, as they were caught stealing twice.
• Nothing like the facing the Devil Rays pitching staff to cure your hitting woes. The latest to get healthy against the Rays, appears to be Travis Hafner. Hafner’s home run in the third was the first given up by Edwin Jackson in 36.1 innings, dating back to last season.
• BJ Upton’s solo home run broke an 0-7 skid.
• Joe Maddon promises to find more ways to get Jonny Gomes into the lineup. In the first 16 games, Gomes has only started three games.
• Brendan Harris has now started five straight games.
• Manny Stiles gets the skinny on Joe Maddon during Stiles first trip to the Trop. What exactly does Maddon do on his days off?
• The Rays are proving that winning is about pitching. They can score all the runs in the world, and it won’t mean diddly if they don’t pitch better. As a team they have scored the second most runs in baseball, yet they are in last place.