All even, Rays and Rangers to face off in game 5
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This is a little more like it, the series between the Texas Rangers and Tampa Bay Rays is all even as the series now returns home to the deciding game 5 in St. Petersburg on Tuesday night. Will the Trop prove to be a home field advantage this time? Have the Texas Rangers lost their confidence? Will the real David Price show up to pitch game 5? These are all questions that will add to the drama in game 5.
In yesterday’s column I posed the question wondering when Evan Longoria would start hitting, and he responded with a 3-4 outing. 2 doubles, a home run and 2 RBI’s. In fact, the Rays as a team are starting to hit the ball. Sunday was the second consecutive game with double digit hits.
In his first post-season appearance, Wade Davis responded well while earning the win.
So, after being pushed to the brink down two games to none, the Tampa Bay Rays responded as they have all season on the road and tied the series up in Texas. It will all come down to one game. 9 innings. A rematch of the game one pitching match-up of Cliff Lee and David Price. You know that David Price wants to redeem himself.
At the end of the regular season, Price’s name was mentioned by some pundits as a possible consideration for the AL Cy Young. Cy Young pitchers respond when the pressure is on, and on Tuesday night, it’s time for Price to respond.
For Tampa Bay Rays, Price wasn’t Right
For the Tampa Bay Rays this afternoon David Price wasn’t right, but I can’t help but be thinking about the similarities between Tampa’s manager Joe Maddon and game show host Drew Carey of The Price is Right, because Joe Maddon just gave the Texas Rangers 5 Plinko chips and they are about to get 5 straight 10,000 dollar chip drops.
Rays Rally to defeat Lee, Rangers
The Tampa Bay Rays are now tied for first place in the AL East as they rallied late to beat Cliff Lee and the Texas Rangers. A game which featured two of the most dominant left handers in the AL, saw the pair combine for 18 strikeouts.
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Rays-Rangers series opens with marquee pitchers duel
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Tropicana Field will be buzzing tonight with the Tampa Bay Rays squaring off with the Texas Rangers and a marquee pitching matchup. David Price versus Cliff Lee, all the feeling of a playoff game. Texas enters the game with a comfortable 8.5 game lead in the AL West and appear to be cruising to a playoff berth. Tampa comes in to tonight’s game with the second best record in baseball at 71-46 and despite a rocky start in the month of August, have climbed back to only 1 game behind the New York Yankees.
The good guys will be wanting to see David Price (15-5 2.84) become the American League’s first pitcher to win 16 games this season. Tampa has been plagued with inconsistent offense in the past few weeks and facing the Rangers Cliff Lee (10-5 2.57) will be no easy task. While the Rays have already beaten Lee twice this year, he holds a 6-4 2.51 ERA lifetime against the Rays. Rays SP Price has never beaten the Rangers and holds a 0-2 9.45 ERA against Texas.
Price will need a better performance than his last outing against the Detroit Tigers. Price did record the win, but only managed to last 5 innings and was erratic at times. Texas starts out the three game series tonight, second in the majors with a team batting average of .276. Tampa will get to see former Rays prospect LF Josh Hamilton tonight. Hamilton has become the superstar that the Rays envisioned when they drafted him in the first round of 1999′s draft. Hamilton is batting .362 with 26 home runs and 80 runs driven in, that offensive production sure would look great in the Rays offense right now.
This will be the final series between the two clubs for the regular season, but there is a very good chance they could see one another in the post season. So, get you’re popcorn ready, this is going to be a great one tonight.
Rays to be Players at Trade Deadline?
In perhaps the most curious of statements, Tampa Bay Rays principal owner Stu Sternberg said that “Money will be no object” as the July 31st trade deadline looms. “We’ll do whatever, money won’t be an object”, Sternberg told reporters before the Red Sox game Tuesday night.
These are words most Rays fans aren’t accustomed to. In fact, money has always been an issue since the Rays joined MLB.
