Tampa Bay Days-Growing Stars

[taiwangm]

Allowing 8 walks, Daniel Cabrera failed to finish 5 innings in tonight's game.

O's swept and roughed up by Rays
April 19, 2008: BAL 1 - 6 TB
Adam Loewen (0-1) vs. Edwin Jackson (1-1)
The O's were hot---they got .300 guys from No.3 to No.6, but Edwin Jackson got them all to prduce a bunch of groundouts. He was easy to admire and pitched just like CMWang in 2007.
Gomes hit his seventh over Loewen and we nearly shut the O's, winning 6-1.
W: Edwin Jackson (2-1)

*Matt Garza was activated and Scott Dohmann was sent to AAA. Our pitching ERA now stands at 2.52!

April 20, 2008: BAL 1 - 15 TB
Matt Albers (1-2) vs. Matt Garza (0-1)
Ending his first DL stint with the Rays, Garza was supported by 4 runs in the first. We scored 3 more in the second and roughed up Albers.
We got everything we wanted today that even I told Navarro to steal second, he succeeded.
We were able to score in every 8 innings and finished the game 15-1, stealing the base 8 times without getting caught, and produced 18 hits.
W: Matt Garza (1-1)
*Akinori Iwamura went four of five with a walk, triple-shy of a cycle and scored four times.
*Thanks to Ramon Hernandez and Guillermo Quiroz, we took the AL lead in stolen bases (20).
*Jonny Gomes now leads the MLB in HR(8) and HR%(15.4%), while Andy Sonnanstine owns the lead in ERA(0.82).

April 21, 2008: BAL 4 - 10 TB
Daniel Cabrera (1-1) vs. Andy Sonnanstine (2-1)
Both starters had controling problems tonight. Sonnanstine, after a brief lead in ERA, allowed four free passes in five innings, with 3 runs.
However, Daniel Cabrera was even worse---eight walks in 4.1 innings. Interestingly, only one of the eight walks he pitched was linked to a run in the fifth.
The other seven walks came in from the first to the third innings, in which we didn't score any runs.
After both starters left the mound, the controling problem lasted that reliever Gary Glover addressed three four balls which contributed to his first run allowed this season.
Same went for O's reliever Dennis Sarfate (2 BBs in 1 inning), Chad Bradford (1) and our Dan Wheeler (1).
In combine, a total of 19 walks were pitched in tonight's game, averaging more than 1 per halves. What a pity, pitchers.
W: Andy Sonnanstine (3-1)
*Walked three times, Aki's OPS surpassed 1.000 the first time in his career.
*Our bullpen ERA leads AL (2.02), and the rotation ERA ranks second (2.72) despite offering only a 47.4% quality start rate.
*After this wonderful series (13 steal attempts succeeded in 15), we tied with San Francisco in Team Steal (23).

Star of the series: Many qualified.
*Akinori Iwamura (6-for-12, two doubles, a homer, 4 walks and 2 steals. That's a 1.558 OPS.)
*Carl Crawford (8-for-14, 4RBI and 3 steals, a 1.243OPS.)
*B.J. Upton (5-for-14, HR, 6RBI and 2 steals, 0.928OPS)
But it finally again went to:
Jonny Gomes (4-for-10, 2HR, 4RBI, 1.671OPS, scored in each of the past 6 games, homered 6 times in the past 9 games)

[taiwangm]

Joe Blanton ended TB's streak by performing a quality start.

Rays' 10-win Streak Ended
April 22, 2008: TB 10 - 4 OAK
James Shields (2-2) vs. Dana Eveland (1-0)
Facing lefty Eveland, I slotted awaking B.J. Upton to leadoff.
The whole A's lineup was in their slumps---no one bats over .300 and even only one over .250. Good sign.
Things went out that we again saw A's relievers up on the mound in just three innings.
Memorable moment: in the sixth, Evan Longoria hit his first career homer over Santiago Casilla, and it went about 446 feet, giving the Rays a 10-2 lead.
We have won 8 straight games!
W: James Shields (3-2)

April 23, 2008: TB 5 - 3 OAK
Jason Hammel (1-1) vs. Greg Smith (0-0)
A battle of back-of-the-rotation pitchers.
Jonny Gomes presented his 9th HR to take lead in the third inning.
It took 67 balls for Smith to finish five innings, while Hammel used 107---but it's not that the most efficient wins.
The Rays scored all the five runs by four homers, including Gomes' two-run blast, and put together 9 straight wins.
W: Jason Hammel (2-1)
SV: Troy Percival (7)

April 24, 2008: TB 4 - 3 OAK
Matt Garza (1-1) vs. Rich Harden (0-3)
Despite going 0-3, Harden's ERA was 4.50 and he's that kind of pitcher that could end a streak. Beware.
To win, we must allow less than we could hit from Harden, but Garza was ineffective at first, allowed 4 straight hits and 2 runs;
all of a sudden, Crawford bashed a long ball, and we were in lead.
Despite giving up nine hits, Garza kept the A's scoreless since the first inning, and that's ten consecutive wins and a tie for AL East lead.
W: Matt Garza (2-1)
SV: Troy Percival (8)*still keeping a 0.00 ERA

April 25, 2008: TB 3 - 6 OAK
Edwin Jackson (2-1) vs. Joe Blanton (1-3)
Jackson pitched not so impressive this time, leaving after six innings while trailing 3-4.
The streak ended, but the Rays were great during this span.
L: Edwin Jackson (2-2)

Star of the series: B.J. Upton (6-for-13, 2 doubles, 4 walks, 1.403OPS)

[taiwangm]

Troy Percival succeeded in all 10 save chances so far.

Another Sweeping Series by Tampa Bay
April 26, 2008: TOR 2 - 4 TB
Jesse Litsch (3-0) vs. Andy Sonnanstine (3-1)
The Jays were a half game ahead of us before this game, but Sonnanstine still pitched well going 8 innings.
W: Andy Sonnanstine (4-1)
SV: Troy Percival (9)

April 27, 2008: TOR 2 - 3 TB
Roy Halladay (3-1) vs. James Shields (3-2)
Ace-to-ace! Both pitched well, but our backup catcher Shawn Riggans gave us a priceless 2-run hit to claim the game.
W: Trever Miller (1-0)
SV: Troy Percival (10) *Going 10 consecutive scoreless innings

April 28, 2008: TOR 1 - 3 TB
A.J. Burnett (3-1) vs. Jason Hammel (2-1)
I let Jason Hammel go deep into 7 innings today for his excellence, allowing only one run, two hits and two walks.
Gomes hit his 10th homer.
W: Jason Hammel (3-1)
SV: Dan Wheeler (1)

Star of the series: I would say Percival, who went 10-for-10 in saves keeping a 0.00 ERA.

[taiwangm]

Jack Egbert struggled on the mound and allowed 7 runs in tonight's game.

Rays Finishing April atop AL East
April 29, 2008: TB 4 - 5 CHW
Matt Garza (2-1) vs. Mark Buehrle (1-3)
Left-handed Iwamura homered twice off Buehrle---how come Iwamura put up 1.519 OPS against lefties?
It was a blown save for Percival. Unfortunately, he allowed 4 runs.
L: Troy Percival (0-1)

April 30, 2008: TB 7 - 3 CHW
Edwin Jackson (2-2) vs. Jack Egbert (0-1)
Not hard for us to score 7 off rookie Egbert, and Jackson struck out 10 in five innings pitched. However, he used 116 pitches and allowed three to score.
The Rays pitching staff combined for 17 K's in tonight's game.
W: Edwin Jackson (3-2)
SV: Dan Wheeler (2)

[taiwangm]

April Review
Rays: 19-9 (.679 wpct) First Place

AL East:
TBR 19-9
NYY 18-11, 1.5GB
TOR 15-11, 3GB
BOS 14-12, 4GB
BAL 11-17, 8GB

Batting:

First	Last	G	AVG	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	BB	K	SB	CS	R	RBI	SLG	OBP	OPS
Evan	Longoria28	0.269 	108	29	3	0	1	6	25	5	3	8	11	0.324 	0.307 	0.631 
Jason	Bartlett28	0.239 	92	22	4	2	2	5	14	4	5	13	6	0.391 	0.293 	0.684 
Carl	Crawford28	0.274 	113	31	6	2	3	5	13	7	2	17	15	0.442 	0.317 	0.759 
B.J.	Upton	28	0.236 	110	26	3	1	4	8	22	6	4	16	17	0.391 	0.288 	0.679 
Akinori	Iwamura	27	0.369 	103	38	5	1	6	16	17	5	1	20	18	0.612 	0.454 	1.066 
Jonny	Gomes	27	0.262 	84	22	2	1	10	10	21	1	0	20	18	0.667 	0.347 	1.014 
Dioner	Navarro	25	0.244 	82	20	2	0	2	6	10	1	0	9	13	0.341 	0.295 	0.636 
Eric	Hinske	23	0.170 	47	8	0	1	2	2	12	0	0	5	6	0.340 	0.204 	0.544 
Carlos	Pena	22	0.266 	79	21	2	1	4	11	15	0	0	12	13	0.468 	0.370 	0.838 
Cliff	Floyd	18	0.160 	50	8	2	0	0	4	13	2	0	6	1	0.200 	0.236 	0.436 
Shawn	Riggans	17	0.231 	13	3	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	3	0.231 	0.286 	0.517 
Willy	Aybar	17	0.189 	37	7	1	1	0	5	9	1	1	3	2	0.270 	0.286 	0.556 
Fernando Perez	8	0.000 	4	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	0.000 	0.000 	0.000 
Justin	Ruggiano7	0.100 	10	1	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	1	0.100 	0.100 	0.200

Comments:
We were in slumps earlier but had seen wonderful contributions by Aki Iwamura and Jonny Gomes. Carlos Pena and Carl Crawford performed fairly well, but both could improve. As for the others, we'll see.
Our trio in RF-DH-committee was all thumbs but Gomes. Neither Hinske or Floyd performed, and I'm thinking about adding a powerful bat to our lineup.
B.J. Upton's numbers suggest weakness, but his RBI ranks third and his runs are fourth, meaning that he is still an integral part of the offense and is going to contribute when he returns to form.

[taiwangm]

Pitching:

First	Last	IP	ERA	G	GS	W	L	SV	K	BB
James	Shields	40.1 	2.01 	6	6	3	2	0	25	13
Edwin	Jackson	35.0 	3.34 	6	6	3	2	0	26	14
A. Sonnanstine	35.0 	1.80 	5	5	4	1	0	22	6
Jason	Hammel	28.1 	2.86 	5	5	3	1	0	22	10
J.P.	Howell	24.1 	2.96 	8	2	1	1	0	23	12
Matt	Garza	21.1 	3.80 	4	4	2	1	0	17	5
Dan	Wheeler	17.2 	1.53 	15	0	2	0	2	13	6
Trever	Miller	11.1 	3.18 	15	0	1	0	0	12	4
Gary	Glover	11.1 	2.38 	7	0	0	0	0	7	5
Troy	Percival10.1 	3.48 	12	0	0	1	10	7	5
Al	Reyes	9.1 	1.93 	8	0	0	0	0	10	4
Scott	Dohmann	3.0 	6.00 	2	0	0	0	0	4	1

Not counting Dohmann, who is used to replace Garza for a while, our pitching staff exceled that no one had an ERA over 4.
Don't forget we were without Scott Kazmir in April---now he returns from DL and is prepared to contribute.
Keep up the good work, pitchers.

[taiwangm]

Three players involved in today's trade.

Rays finalized 3-men trade with Dodgers
Outfielder Andre Ethier was sent to Tampa Bay in exchange for reliever Scott Dohmann and prospect starting pitcher Heath Rollins.
A career .302 hitter, Andre Ethier is in his third season in the bigs. He has decent power and will hit for average. Rays GM Ko commented today that Ethier could either slot into DH role or spell Jonny Gomes in the right field.
After this trade, there are still seven outfielders on Tampa Bay's roster as they sent Justin Ruggiano back to AAA. On top of four starters they have, the Rays own Cliff Floyd for pinch-hitting power, Eric Hinske for corners infield and outfield, and Fernando Perez for center and pinch-running.

Scott Dohmann was one of the relievers in use last season with the Rays, addressing a 3.31 ERA. He only appeared in 2 games for the Rays this season and also put a 2.89 ERA in AAA Durham.

Heath Rollins, 22, has pitched in 5 games and posted a 3.38 ERA for A Inland this season. He is regarded as a decent starting prospect that could end up at No.4 or No.5 slot in the majors.

Andre Ethier was added to Tampa Bay's roster, and Scott Kazmir, who is coming off the DL, also was activated today, which means sending starter Jason Hammel back to the minors. A No.5 starter as the season began, Hammel has put solid numbers.

[200tang]

lol, Jack Egbert.

[taiwangm]

Around the league

Trades:
Cubs and Royals finished a 2-for-6 trade, but it majorly can be regarded as Royals getting Derrek Lee at the cost of Brett Tomko, David DeJesus and their best prospect Mike Moustakas.

Contracts:
Mike Piazza and Kenny Loften were signed by the Crew for one year, worthing $2.7M and $4.5M.
Barry Bonds was signed by the Tribe for one year, $6.9M.
The Cincinnati Reds signed Sammy Sosa for one year and $4.1M to replace Ken Griffey Jr, who was hurt.
Lots of players signed extensions.

Major Injuries:
April 1:Raul Ibanez would miss five weeks due to a fractured eye bone.
April 3:Ken Griffey Jr. would miss two months to a ruptured cervical disc.
April 6:A replacement, Sammy Sosa torn his hamstring and would miss a month.
April 9:Phil Hughes stretched his knee ligament and would miss five weeks.
April 20:Ryan Church would miss five weeks due to a ruptured knee ligaments.

Milestones:
Ivan Rodriguez got his 2500th hit on April 6.
Barry Bonds's 2000th RBI came on April 12.
Washington's Willie Harris hit for a cycle on the following day.
On April 21, John Smoltz notched his 3000th strikeout.

Big Names Retirements:
No real big-names retired this month. But Oakland prospect Travis Buck, 24, retired after only spiking his foot. How come?

[taiwangm]

lol, Jack Egbert.

You reminded me that I frogot to edit the score. It was 7-3, not 4-5.

[taiwangm]

May 1, 2008: TB 7 - 4 CHW
Scott Kazmir (0-0) vs. Jose Contreras (2-3)
With the help of Jonny Gomes's 11th homer, Kazmir sent nine strikeouts and won the game.
W: Scott Kazmir (1-0)
SV: Troy Percival (11)

May 2, 2008: TB 6 - 7 CHW
Andy Sonnanstine (4-1) vs. Gavin Floyd (2-2)
Sonnanstine kind of struggled to give up six runs.
L: Andy Sonnanstine (4-2)

[taiwangm]

Jon Lester pitched 188 in 3 days, allowing 13 runs in 7 innings pitched.
Rays destroyed Sox Pitching
May 3, 2008: BOS 3 - 8 TB
Jon Lester (3-0) vs. James Shields (3-2)
Shields let the Sox load the bases in the fourth with no out, but stirked out two and induced a popup to avoid giving up runs.
We hit Lester hard to lead 8-1 after five inings.
W: James Shields (4-2)
SV: Troy Percival (12)

May 4, 2008: BOS 3 - 8 TB
Josh Beckett (1-3) vs. Matt Garza (2-1)
Carl Crawford suffered a minor injury and projected to come back within a week, so I slotted B.J. Upton first, Akinori Iwamura second and Evan Longoria third.
Andre Ethier will start in left for us.
Beckett let us score five and left in the third inning, giving Garza rather easy situation. but he didn't pitched well, allowing 7 hits in less than 4 innings, including 5 extra-bases hits.
J.P. Howell was used yesterday for 62 pitches so we went to Gary Glover for long relieving, which led to 2.1 scoreless innings. Good job.
Suprisingly, the Sox pushed Jon Lester up for relieving---AI ruining this young pitcher. He started yesterday.
And it's not hard to imagine how we hit a pitcher who was four days to rested.
We eventually scored 13 and collected 20 hits, and again stole 8 bases without getting caught, thanks to exhausted Lester throwing his 69-mph changeups.
W: Gary Glover (1-0)

May 5, 2008: BOS 8 - 9 TB
Daisuke Matsuzaka (3-2) vs. Edwin Jackson (3-2)
Facing the dominating Dice-K, we planned to wait patiently until he threw too many pitches and went to the 'pen. Then we can destroy their tired relievers.
It is like that Edwin Jackson is always ineffective in the first inning, same here. Dustin Pedroia homered for two runs.
Yes, the Dice-K was constantly throwing BALLs---he used 39 pitches to get through the first, and the score wen to 2-3.
He lasted only five innings, but never gave up a run again, and then we were in 3-4 trailing. But due to a rare Dustin Pedroia error, we tied it to 4-4.
Finally, Hideki Okajima fulfilled our hope to gave up Jonny Gomes's 12th homer. He worked for 36 pitches yesterday.
Jon Lester went on the mound again---I felt sorry for him.
After that---ouch! Percival blew it! The Sox tied the score again 7-7, hitting hard against Troy.
But a bottom of ninth facing Jon Lester, who threw 110 pitches 2 days ago and 39 yesterday, sounded sweet.
However, Aybar, Navarro and Bartlett were all retired by Lester. Bravo! It went to extra innings.
It turned out still bitter for Lester, who was homered off by Carlos Pena to end the game. But why? WHY didn't the Red Sox use Jonathan Papelbon? WHY?
W: Trever Miller (2-0)

Star of the series: Carlos Pena went 7-for-13 with 2 homers and 4 RBI, compiling a 1.516 OPS.

[taiwangm]

Scott Kazmir pitched well, but not enough to prevent the Rays from being swept.
Rays Swept for The First Time
May 7, 2008: TB 5 - 6 NYY
Andy Sonnanstine (4-2) vs. Chien-Ming Wang (3-3)
It's time to face the Taiwaner's favorite, which is fun.
Bartlett hit a three-run inside-the-park homer to take over the lead, 4-3, but soon Sonnanstine allowed back-to-back doubles and I went for Al Reyes.
He allowed a homer by Bobby Abreu, and the Bronx Bombers took the lead 6-4.
We made it 6-5 in the eighth, and when it went to the last inning, they didn't put up Mo Rivera, who was during a minor injury.
Instead, they went for Kyle Farnsworth, a hard-throwing righty. We had runners on first and third with no one out---but didn't take the chance.
L: Andy Sonnanstine (4-3)

May 8, 2008: TB 4 - 11 NYY
James Shields (4-2) vs. Andy Pettitte (3-1)
Something went wrong for Shields, who gave up seven runs in 4 innings.
L: James Shields (4-3)

May 9, 2008: TB 1 - 4 NYY
Scott Kazmir (1-0) vs. Mark Mussina (1-2)
As Crawford returning to the lineup, we wanted to avoid being swept.
Kazmir should be productive against Yanks' heavy-leftied lineup, and he did well finishing 6 innings with only one run as well as 7 stirkeouts.
However, Mussina fooled us before Kazmir used 122 pitches, shutting us down until Evan Longoria bashed his second career homer over 423 feet to tie the score.
I really wanted Kazmir to win this game, so I let him pitch deep despite 122 pitches used, but the result was another run allowed.
L: Scott Kazmir (1-1)

Star of the series: Evan Longoria, 6-for-11, 3 doubles and a homer, 3 walks and a steal, going a 1.734 OPS. He has a streak of five games hitting at least a double.

[taiwangm]

Andre Ethier hit a rare walk-off inside-the-park homer.
Rays Bullpen Took All Three Games
May 10, 2008: TEX 4 - 5 TB
Vincent Padilla (2-1) vs. Edwin Jackson (3-2)
A rather boring game, and it went to the extras. Andre Ethier hit a walk-off homer to claim the game in 13.
The only interesting point was that it was an inside-the-park homer!
W: Gary Glover (2-0)

May 11, 2008: TEX 5 - 9 TB
Kason Gabbard (2-2) vs. Matt Garza (2-1)
A quality start for Garza, and same for Gabbard. After six innings, the score was 3-3.
Al Reyes was homered in 3 straight relief appearances, which was to blame, but he eventually became the winning pitcher by six points supported in the seventh.
W: Al Reyes (1-0)

May 12, 2008: TEX 2 - 3 TB
Kevin Millwood (3-2) vs. James Shields (4-3)
Millwood has shut down us when Shields left in the seventh with a 0-2 trailing.
Fortunately, the Rangers pushed Millwood deep and let us tie the score in the eighth.
Jason Bartlett eventually hit a walk-off double for us.
W: Dan Wheeler (3-0)

Star of the series: Andre Ethier posted a 1.105 OPS after joining us in 11 games. In this series, he hit 6-for-12 with 3 doubles and a homer.
*Our bullpen took all of three wins.

[taiwangm]

Victor Martinez threw out all five Rays would-be basestealers on May 14.
Waken Longoria: .250 to .309
May 13, 2008: TB 4 - 6 CLE
Andy Sonnanstine (4-3) vs. Cliff Lee (3-3)
Before the bottom of the fifth, we were able to score 4 and hit 9 over Cliff Lee, which was impressive, and Sonnantine pitched extremely well letting only Victor Martinez single.
But things went wrong in the fifth when 4 hits and 2 walks collected 4 runs to help the Indians tie the score.
It was all my fault---forgetting to change the pitcher in the seventh, and Sonnanstine suffered another solo homer.
L: Andy Sonnanstine (4-4)
*Scott Kazmir suffered a minor injury and would miss a week. J.P. Howell will start tomorrow.

May 14, 2008: TB 5 - 3 CLE
J.P. Howell (1-1) vs. Paul Byrd (3-4)
Howell did a good job for emergency starting, pitched five innings and let the Tribe scored twice.
We won the game, but... is Victor Martinez so hard to beat? We went 0-for-5 stealing this game!
W: J.P. Howell (2-1)
SV: Troy Percival (13)

May 15, 2008: TB 4 - 3 CLE
Edwin Jackson (3-2) vs. Jake Westbrook (2-1)
Evan Longoria singled in the fourth to reach .300 average for the first time in his career after erroring in the previous inning that caused an unearned run.
That was the only run Jackson allowed today in six excellent innings, with just three hits.
Jonny Gomes was in his slump and out of the lineup these several games, but he pinch-hitted for the DH Eric Hinske and homered 13th this year.
W: Edwin Jackson (4-2)
SV: Troy Percival (14)

Star of the series: Evan Longoria, 7-for-10 with two doubles and two RBI, 1.627 OPS. He was 4-for-4 in the last game to raise his AVG to .309.