Rays Tame the Tigers

 

 

Rays 5, Tigers 2

 

Rays manager Joe Maddon and Club VP Andrew Friedman spoke with reporters about the trade deadline. They voiced their opinions on why it might be better to not make a move and bring another part into this puzzle. They explained that we might have the perfect pieces in hose to secure our first playoff spot, and could use those players for years to come.

That it would not cost the team any additional money or expenses to try these in-house options out first before exploring the August waiver wire transactions. Maddon talked about the clubhouse chemistry, and how another player could have altered the flow a bit in the clubhouse.

I guess I can see the magic when a magician plays with the cards in front of you, but the illusion, like the recent Criss Angel fiasco, can blow up in your face. The Rays have a point, this team has an amazing chemistry that might be altered by a new outer body coming into the fold.

And we do have Rocco getting better every day, and might even be in uniform tonight at the Trop. if all goes well. We have a pitcher in Double-A, who has had a few scares, but is still undefeated as a professional. Who would have thought David Price would be posting wins like crazy and showing such fast success.   Maybe the Wizard in the Rays uniform is right. Maybe we have our own destiny to protect, and our own fate to secure.

But then again, on any given night, even the 1929 Yankees lost.

******************************************************************************************************************************************************

 

 

Akinora Iwamura led off the game tonight with a nice double into leftfield. 3 pitches later he was sitting in the dugout after a great throw from Tiger’s catcher Brandon Inge to get Iwamura trying to steal second base in the 1st inning.

Iwamura atoned for the mistake in the 3rd inning by hitting a double that scored Jason Bartlett and put the Rays on the board 2-1. Iwamura went to third on a B J Upton ground out and scored on a pass ball by Inge to tie the score at 2-2.

 

 

                       

 

Evan Longoria and Carlos Pena each hit monster shots that helped secure the win for the Rays.

Longoria’s solo shot in the 7th inning, was his MLB rookies leading 20th homer of the season.  Longoria along with Pena have been a consistant playmaker this year for the team.

Pena’s solo shot was just out of the reach of Tiger’s centerfielder Curtis Granderson and went off the bottom wall facing of the Batter’s Eye Restaurant in centerfield. It was Pena’s 19th homer of the season.

 

         

 

 

But the play of the night did not involve an offensive play. It was a true gem of hustle and guts by rightfielder Gabe Gross.  Magglio Ordonez came up in the 9th inning and hit a dying quail that looked estined to drop in front of Gross.

 Gabe put on the afterburners and got to the ball before it hit the turf. Gross secured the ball in his glove before doing a faceplant on the turf. It was a critical 2nd out of the inning and brought the energy level of the stadium to a high point.

 

 

 

After Iwamura was caught stealing second in the 1st inning, Carl Crawford laced a low flying ball past the out-stretched arms of Marcus Thames in left for a triple. the ball hit right before the diving Thames and skidded to the wall while Crawford was rounding first. Carl put it in hyperspace and coasted into third for his 5th triple in 6 games.

Crawford currently leads the AL with 10 triples this year. Since WW II, Carl is tied with George Brett for third on the multiple triple game list with 7 games. 

Among active player with the most triples, Crawford is thrid on the list with 83. The Yankee’s Jonny Damon leads the list with 90 triples in 1,937 games.  Crawford  has reached that total in only 917 games. More than a 1,000 less than Damon.

 

B J Upton was again caught stealing last night in the game. B J was thrwon out trying to steal third in the 5th inning by a perfect throw from Inge. Upton currently leads the majors with 14 this year. He is  in the lead in that category by 3 caught stealing outs. 

 

                              

 

We did not see vintage Scott Kazmir on the mound for the Rays lat night. Scott had control problems in the 1st inning and walked 4 of the first 7 batters’ he faced in the inning. He also threw 30 pitches just in the 1st inning.

Scott pitched 4.2 innings tonight and gave up 3-hits for 2-runs. But the wild stat of the night is that he had 6 walks and 5 strikeouts in the game.  Kazmir seemed to be all over the plate and not consistantly in the strike zone. This makes it tough for a umpire to even give him a boraderline call if he is going east-to-west on almost every pitch.

 

Also having a great night at the plate was DH Cliff Floyd. Cliff went 2-2 on the night with a double and a single.

On his double, Cliff took a fast turn at first and beat the throw in from the outfield to get his 5th double of the season. It seemed to spark alot of excitement in the dugout. Floyd then moved over to third on Dioner Navarro’s ground out. Floyd then walked home on a Joel Zumaya wild pitch to the backstop.