Arbitration. The waiting game.
In hearing the words: ”Carl Crawford was offered arbitration”… Was that just a tease or is it promising? What can we expect?
How I see it – It seems like lots of talks, news and situations to be gone over until the deadline on Nov. 30th. Until then, I’m enjoying all the banter with, friends, family, colleagues and different situation proposals. Its both a tease and a tad promising…
3 keys to a Tampa Bay Rays victory over the Texas Rangers tonight
[picappgallerysingle id="9072164"]
The Tampa Bay Rays offense caught fire after 26 innings against the Texas Rangers and they have managed to tie up the series and bring the fifth and final game back to the Trop tonight. This evening’s game will be a rematch of both team’s top starting pitchers, Texas’ Cliff Lee against the Rays’ David Price, both left handed pitchers. There are three keys I think that will make a difference in tonight’s game.
1-It has been announced that tonight’s game is a complete sellout, even after the Rays ownership uncovered the outfield tarps and sold an additional 5,000 seats for tonight’s matchup. The Tampa Bay Rays have not lost back to back starts with David Price pitching the entire season. With the Trop sold out tonight, there needs to be a Metrodome-like amount of noise while Cliff Lee is pitching. Bring your cowbells, dinner bells, church bells, I don’t care. The key to defeating Cliff Lee is getting to him early, preferably in the 1st inning, get him off base and do not allow him to settle into a groove. Make Lee pitch deep into counts and run up his pitch count early.
2-David Price needs run support. Manager Joe Maddon has once again tweaked the lineup and has focused on a heavy right-handed batting lineup. Rocco Baldelli will not be occupying a spot tonight, and should never have been in te lineup in Game 1, regardless of sentimental feelings.
3- Tonight’s game is going to require an absolute team effort. 3B Evan Longoria has had 36 hours to rest his quad injury, but the Rays cannot put everything on his shoulders. I’d like to see at least a base hit from 1B Carlos Pena against a left hander tonight. The Rays three headed monster in the bullpen of Grant Balfour, Joaquin Benoit and Rafael Soriano is waiting for the Rangers batting order, give them an opportunity to win this game and send Texas back home.
For those of you questioning Joe Maddon’s decision to go with Kelly Shoppach over John Jaso at catcher, once again Maddon decided to play the percentages. Shoppach and David Price have had a good rapport as pitcher and receiver this season and Shoppach is better against left handed pitching than John Jaso.
If Tampa Bay loses tonight, this will most likely be the last time that you see LF Carl Crawford in a Rays uniform. Every single one of you attending tonight’s game, make sure you give him the respect and admiration he deserves when he takes the field in the first inning and throughout the entire game.
Red Sox fans piling on the Tampa Bay Rays
[picappgallerysingle id="9603000"]
Tampa Bay Rays fans, as if we didn’t have enough issues, our good friends who are Boston Red Sox fans have now decided to pile on. Fellow network blogger Alistair Ingram for the Fenway Faithful has posted his comments about how the Tampa Bay Rays will simply pass into obscurity after they are swept by the Texas Rangers. In fact, our concerned friend from Beantown has written that the Tampa Bay Rays will slide into irrelevance after losing in the playoffs this season.
Tampa Bay Rays lineup for ALDS Game 2
[picappgallerysingle id="9926771"]
The Tampa Bay Rays have made some changes to the lineup for today’s game against the Texas Rangers. Rocco Baldelli has been taken off the roster and replaced with Willy Aybar who be be in the lineup as DH this afternoon. Sub-.200 hitting 1B Carlos Pena is also out of the lineup, replaced by Ben Zobrist at first base.
In another of Joe Maddon’s head-scratching moves, rookie Desmond Jennings will start in right field. This afternoons lineup for the Tampa Bay Rays-
Bartlett ss
Upton cf
Crawford lf
Longoria 3b
Zobrist 1b
Aybar DH
Shoppach dh
Rodriguez 2b
Jennings rf
Shields p
Rays-Rangers recap after 2 innings
[picappgallerysingle id="9459039"]
Two innings are in the book in the Tampa Bay Rays and Texas Rangers game this afternoon. Tampa Bay Rays fans which are watching are seeing a trend which plagued the team all season long, Tampa Bay leaving runners on base.
In the first inning Tampa left the bases loaded, in the second inning, Tampa left a runner at second base. Both pitchers, David Price and Cliff Lee have thrown 43 pitches in the first two innings.
Controversy and a Rays game seem to go hand in hand and it didn’t take long for a questionable call to surface in this afternoon’s game. With the bases loaded and 1B Carlos Pena at the plate, home plate umpire Tim Welke called a foul tip on a Cliff Lee pitch made to Pena. The replay clearly showed the ball did not hit Pena’s bat. The call of foul tip made the call on Pena 2-2 instead of 3-1. Welke was the same home plate umpire who made the call of the phantom hit by pitch in Tropicana Field when the ball clearly hit the base of the bat.
Texas Rangers RF Nelson Cruz just hit one out at the top of the third, Rangers 3 Tampa Bay 0.
