The Hangover: Rays Land In Anaheim And Fall Back to Earth

Angels 9, Devil Rays 1.
Don’t blame us. We said we wouldn’t be surprised if the Rays lost 10-1….We are never apologists for starting pitchers. We hate it when somebody says a pitcher threw a great game but just “made a couple of mistakes.” It is the biggest gop-out in baseball. Winning pitchers don’t make mistakes when the game is on the line. That being said, last night was the second time in the past week that a Devil Rays pitcher deserved a better fate. Edwin Jackson didn’t have his best stuff, but he battled all night and was betrayed by sloppy defense. He did give up 8 hits in 6+ innings, but he only gave up 1 walk. The Rays committed three errors, including BJ Upton’s 6th. With 2 outs in the 5th inning, two runners on in a scoreless game, Upton made a great stop of a groundball up the middle but threw wide to first. By the time the inning was over, the Rays had committed 2 errors and were down 3-0 and the game was over.

• Why was the second Rays-Yankees game a night game, on get-away day, before a west coast trip? We understand trying to maximize the attendance, but it was the Yankees and it would have still been a good crowd. So for an extra 5,000 fannies in the seats on Tuesday, the front office may have sacrificed a game on wednesday.
• Jorge Cantu is just as comfortable at first as he is at second base (uh oh) and he says it is because, they are the same side of the infield. Pure genius.
• Jorge Cantu was not called up to play everyday and will have to make the most of the little playing time he receives if he has any hopes of being traded.
• The upcoming series with the Rangers in Orlando may not sellout.
• Ty Wigginton on the other hand is a chameleon when it comes to infield positions and should make a smooth and quick transition to being the most-days third baseman.
• Brendan Harris now appears to be the starting shortstop. We thought this could happen, but didn’t think it would happen so quickly.
• Has BJ Upton done enough to reestablish himself as one of the games up and coming stars? Too early to tell, but he is off to a good start.
• Tonight’s starter Jae Seo has given up more runs than any other pitcher in baseball (24).

The Return Of Jorge Cantu: Iwamura to DL

Jorge Cantu is back. Akinori Iwamura was placed on the DL today with a strained oblique muscle and Cantu was recalled from Durham to take his place.

Honestly we are a bit surprised that Cantu was the choice, although there really isn’t a lot of offensive talent at Durham right now. Cantu’s demotion at the end of spring training was not received very well by the second baseman and he subsequently demanded a trade. It is not clear if the Rays have entered into anything other than preliminary discussions with other teams about moving Cantu. There just does not seem to be much of a market for a second baseman with limited defensive abilities and a bat in decline.

Iwamura to the DL is a big blow to the this team. He was the one player on the team that would actually work a pitcher. He is 4th in the AL in walks on a team that has always struggled with getting on base. And is it us or is the oblique muscle a recent discovery to science? Up to 5 years ago, we never heard of a player missing time with an injured oblique. Now it happens all the time. Apparently the injury occurred earlier in the week. The big worry is how serious the injury is. Obliques can be a finicky muscle and if not careful, this could turn into a season-long nagging injury.

As for the Rays lineup, look for Cantu to receive at bats, but not regular playing time. BJ Upton is still the second baseman. Ty Wigginton will likely slide over to third base with Brendan Harris also receiving some starts. On days that Wiggy is at third, Carlos Pena will start at first base. Cantu is most likely to receive one or two starts a week at DH.

The Hangover: Root For the Devil Rays At Your Own Risk

Devil Rays 10, Yankees 8.
We love winnin’…it’s like better than losin’. The 2007 incarnation of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays are going to be the death of us. The Rays beat the Yankees and in the process were involved in their 612th straight game decided by 2 runs or less. As usual, the offense was great with 6 different Devil Rays collecting at least 2 hits. And as usual, the pitching was shaky. Casey Fossum got the win despite giving up 6 runs in 5.2 innings. Brian Stokes was the lone pitching bright spot as he jumped right back on the horse after blowing the save opportunity on Sunday. After Juan Salas walked the only two batters he faced in the 8th, Stokes came on and retired the side. Al Reyes close out the win despite giving up A-Rod’s second home run of the game. We love the wins…but we are already cringing in anticipation of the next debilitating loss.

• These Rays DO come with a warning. Do not root for them if you are pregnant or have a pre-existing heart condition.
• First it was BJ Upton imitating Chone Figgans. Now Chone Figgans is worried about imitating BJ Upton. That’s not good. Figgans is returning from fractured bones in the fingers of his throwing hand and will begin a rehab assignment this week. His biggest concern will be the accuracy of his throws.
• Poor Yankees fans…not such big fans of the cowbells.
• Joe Maddon hesitates to use Al Reyes in back-to-back games. There was no way Papa Joe was going to use Reyes in 3 straight on Sunday.
• Ty Wigginton’s hot starts as a member of the Devil Rays is not a coincidence. It is due to a different approach he has learned to take in spring training and early in the season in which he will force himself to take more pitches than usual.
• You will never see any Fantasy baseball analysis on this site. There are a million other places you can get that, and we don’t read any of it. However, Roto Authority has a nice analysis of James Shields. They like him so much they actually analyze Shields two times. The consensus is that Shields has added a few inches to his fastball and his changeup is now even more devastating, with a 38% swing-and-miss rate.

The Hangover: Growing Pains

Orioles 9, Devil Rays 7. We don’t want to talk about it. OK, we will say this. We better get used to it. This is a team that will look like a playoff contender on some nights and the Bad News Bears on others. During last season’s post-all-star break swoon, the Rays lost a lot of games before the lineups were exchanged at home plate. Final scores such as 9-1 were not uncommon. There is something imminently unpainful about those types of losses. When you see the punch coming, you can brace for it. After a weekend in which the Rays beat Johan Santana and got to Joe Nathan in the 9th of another game, and with the Orioles coming to the Trop where the Rays should be a favorite, we never saw this type of loss coming. Fool us once…

• The only moment worth watching in last night’s game was a play in which Aubrey Huff committed two errors and the Orioles committed three total, leading to a run. It made us giggle.
• Delmon Young had his 12-game hitting streak snapped. The team record is 18-games, by Quinten McCracken in 1998.
• The Rays streak of 12 consecutive games with a home run was snapped last night, although Ty Wigginton came within inches of extending the streak.
• We will know early on tonight if Casey Fossum will pitch a good game. In his first start of the season he gave up 4 flyball outs and 3 ground ball outs and was pulled in the 4th inning. In his last start he recorded 13 groundball outs and only 6 flyball outs and worked 7 innings. The difference is effectiveness of Fossum’s sinker. If his sinker is on and he is inducing groundballs, he has a chance to be effective.
• Devil Rays haven’t moved in the latest ESPN power rankings. Obviously these rankings came out before last night’s debacle.