MVN - Most Valuable Network

Dice-K Outduels Shields as Rays Waste Game 1 Opportunities

“It’s a mortal sin to waste good pitching”–Joe Maddon during his post game interview

The Rays opened the ALCS hoping to continue their magical Cinderella ride, but around midnight during game one their carriage looked more like a giant pumpkin. The offense failed to get the memo that the ALCS started last night and a masterful performance by James Shields was wasted.

Shields was dominant for 7.1 innings and the bullpen pitched a scoreless 1.2 innings behind him, but that still was not enough. After running into a little trouble in the first inning with runners on second and third, Shields buckled down to strike out J.D. Drew with a nasty 84 mph change up. Shields would keep the game scoreless until the fifth inning when the Sox went up 1-0 on a Jed Lowrie sac-fly. The Sox would score another run off Shields as J.P. Howell entered the game and gave up and RBI double to Kevin Youkilis.

Shields would give up just the two earned runs on six hits, two walks, while striking out six in 7.1 innings. He threw 65 of his 100 pitches for strikes and had his devastating change-up working all game. He was great, but on this night Daisuke Matsuzaka was better, especially with runners on base.

The Rays had plenty of chances to score on Matsuzaka, who was typically ”wildly effective”. He walked four batters on the night including three walks in the first inning that loaded the bases. However, the Rays went just 1-8 with RISP and the one hit did not result in a run.

The Rays wasted a golden opportunity in the 7th inning as well. While Matsuzaka didn’t have the best command in the world he did have a no hitter through six innings. Carl Crawford ended that in the 7th inning with a lead off single. The next hitter, Cliff Floyd, would also single to set up runners at the corners with no outs. Dice-K was able to get Dioner Navarro to hit a flyball to left field, but it was so shallow that even the speedy Crawford could not tag up. In what might be the biggest AB of the game, Matsuzaka got Gabe Gross to strike out swinging to register the critical second out of the inning. He escaped the jam by retiring Jason Bartlett on a ground ball.

The Rays went right back at it in the eight inning. With Dice-K at 108 pitches to start the inning, the Rays lead off the inning with a single, wild pitch, and then another single to set up runners on second and third with no outs and the heart of the order(Pena, Longoria, Crawford) to follow. Terry Francona brought in lefty Hideki Okajima to face lefty slugger Carlos Pena. Pena worked the count in his favor 3-0, but then flied out weakly to right field. Joe Maddon said after the game that he gave Pena the green light in that situation because of Carlos’s ability to hit big home runs.

Justin Masterson would be brought into face Evan Longoria and got an inning ending double play, which capped an awful 0-4(2 K’s) performance for Longoria. Since game one of the ALDS, he has gone 1-16 with eight strikeouts. If the Rays don’t get Longoria’s bat going it will be a short series for them.

The Rays would keep the game 2-0 after using Grant Balfour and prized prospect David Price in the top of the 9th, but Jonathan Papelbon would continue his record scoreless postseason streak and retired the Rays quietly in the 9th.

All in all it was a game of wasted opportunities for the Rays. Joe Maddon thought his team “played a fine game,” but later added “you gotta score runs with outs.” When asked if this loss would be disheartening for his team, Maddon talked about how the team has come back from tough losses all season and that “you can’t get too down” over one loss.

OPS ALCS Notebook: I was at the game and able to sit in on the press conferences as well as talk to some players before the game. Here are a few notes I picked up.

• I talked with Shawn Riggans and he said he knee felt really good, but he still can’t get into a crouching position just yet. He said he participated in an instructional league game, but was limited to just hitting.

• Ben Zobrist has at least three different gloves in his locker including a first basemen’s mitt. He also refers to himself as “late inning lightning.”

• Joe Maddon feels the biggest change in J.P. Howell and Grant Balfour this year is confidence. He notes that Howell’s velocity has increased since joining the bullpen and that Balfour really seized his opportunity once he was recalled from the Minors.

• Not only was Jason Bartlett named team MVP by local writers, but Joe Maddon said he didn’t believe the team would be playing in the ALCS without Bartlett up the middle. He also admitted that he did not know much about Bartlett before this year, but that Andrew Friedman set his eyes on Bartlett as a target and was emphatic about acquiring him.

• Scott Kazmir was asked about comparisons to fellow Texan, Josh Beckett. Kazmir said that he learned a lot from watching Beckett and talking to him. He said he’s really picked up on Beckett’s competitiveness and just the way he goes about his business. When asked if he watched tape of other great lefties like Warren Spahn or Steve Carlton, Kazmir said he thinks he compares best to Ron Guidry and has watched tape to see how Guidry pitched with similar stuff and body build.

• Kazmir also mentioned that his main goal against the Red Sox is getting the first man out in each inning, which has been something he has struggled with all year including game two of the ALDS.

 

ALCS Pitching Previews; OPS Breaksdown the matchups.

 We’re not going to get too in depth with the pitching matchups, but here’s a little preview of what you’re probably going to see in the first four games of the ALCS.

Game 1:  James Shields(1-0, 4.26) vs Daisuke Matsuzaka(0-0, 5.40)

 James Shields

Career vs Boston:  8GS, 2-4, 5.23ERA, 1.23WHIP, .248BAA

2008 vs Boston:  4GS, 2-2, 5.85ERA, 1.25ERA, .256BAA

2008 Home:  17GS, 9-2, 2.59ERA, 1.04WHIP, .234BAA

Daisuke Matusuzaka

Career vs Tampa Bay:  8GS, 2-3, 3.75ERA, 1.33WHIP, .232BAA

2008 vs Tampa Bay:  3GS, 1-0, 3.00ERA, 1.60WHIP, .228BAA

2008 Away:  13GS, 9-0, 2.37ERA, 1.16WHIP, .178BAA

2008 at the Trop:  2GS, 1-0, 1.80ERA, 1.20WHIP, .143BAA

James Shields would seem to have the advantage in this one.  “Big Game” James pitches very well at home and does have a complete game shut out against the Red Sox at Tropicana Field.  Even if he does give up an early run or two he’ll lock it down and pitch deep into the game.  Dice-K has actually pitched much better on the road than at home, but he does lead the AL in walks.  If he walks too many batters in this Rays lineup they’re going to run all over the place, which is a significant advantage.  He doesn’t give up many hits however, so the Rays need to take advantage of any base runners they get.  With no runners on base his ERA is 0.95, with runners on it’s 4.94.  With runners in scoring position it balloons to 7.77.  Look for the Rays to be very aggressive on the basepaths tonight.–EH

Game 2:  Scott Kazmir(1-0, 3.38) vs Josh Beckett(0-1, 7.20)

 Scott Kazmir

Career vs Boston:  21GS, 6-7, 3.62ERA, 1.39WHIP, .236BAA

2008 vs Boston:  4GS, 0-2, 9.00ERA, 2.11WHIP, .324BAA

2008 Home:  14GS, 8-2, 2.90ERA, 1.29WHIP, 1.97BAA

Josh Beckett

Career vs Tampa Bay:  10GS, 5-3, 3.11ERA, 1.08WHIP, .235BAA

2008 vs Tampa Bay:  5GS, 2-1, 2.06ERA, 0.91WHIP, .209BAA

2008 Away:  15GS, 7-5, 2.85ERA, 1.05WHIP, .226BAA

2008 at the Trop:  2GS, 0-1, 1.20ERA, 0.60WHIP, 1.37BAA 

Beckett, like Dice-K, pitches better on the road than he does at home for some reason.  Beckett has pitched very well against the Rays this season while getting a little tough luck.  He was the losing pitcher in the James Shields complete game shutout even though he struck out 13 rays over seven innings.  But that was when he was fully healthy, and now that’s not the case.  He was not the same October Josh Beckett in his ALDS start.  Hopefully the Rays can take advantage of his health issues and jump on him early.  Scott Kazmir is the ultimate question mark, we all know that.  In his last start this season against Boston they teed off on him, hitting what seemed to be 20 home runs against him.  Truthfully I’m not too confident about this one.  I feel like both starters could be pulled out by the 6th inning with the score being 5-4 in either favor.  If Kaz can give the Rays 5IP and two or fewer earned runs I think the Rays have a great chance at winning this game.–EH

Game 3: Matt Garza(0-1, 7.50) vs. Jon Lester(1-0, 0.00)

Matt Garza

Career vs. Boston: 3-1, 3.86 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, .242 BAA(6 games)

2008 vs. Boston: 1-1, 4.50 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, .250 BAA(4 games)

2008 Away: 4-6, 4.53, 1.30 WHIP, .256 BAA(15 games)

2008 @ Fenway: 0-1, 8.44 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, .273 BAA(1 game)

Jon Lester

Career vs. Rays: 4-0, 3.38 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, .241 BAA(7 games)

2008 vs. Rays: 3-0, 0.90 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, .240 BAA(3 games)

2008 Home: 11-1, 2.49 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, .240 BAA(17 games)

On paper you have to give this match up to the Red Sox. Lester has been their true ace this year and he has been especially good at home. He has just dominated the Rays in 2008 with his 0.90 ERA against them. Lefties have given the Rays fits all season. During the regular season they hit just .246/.330/.396 vs. southpaws. While the numbers favor Lester at home, Matt Garza has the ability to shut a team out in any given start. His road numbers aren’t as good as his home numbers this year, but career wise he’s actually been better on the road than at home(3.93 career road ERA). In fact, arguably his best starts this year have been on the road. Garza has two shutouts and three complete games(including a one hitter) this year and all have come away from Tropicana Field. So again it looks like the Sox have the advantage in numbers, but Matt Garza is a huge wild card.–TR

Game 4: Andy Sonnanstine(1-0, 3.18) vs. Tim Wakefield(N/A)

Andy Sonnanstine

Career vs. Boston: 1-1, 5.40 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, .271 BAA(6 games)

2008 vs. Boston: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.69, .152 BAA(2 games)

2008 Away: 6-5, 4.35 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, .273 BAA(16 games)

2008 @ Fenway: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.57 WHIP, .154 BAA(1 game)

Tim Wakefield

Career vs. Rays: 19-5, 3.32 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, .226 BAA(41 games)

2008 vs. Rays: 0-2, 5.87 ERA, 1.63 WHIP, .279 BAA(3 games)

2008 Home: 7-4, 3.10 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, .206 BAA(14 games)

This is the subject to change game. Right now the match up is Sonnanstine vs. Wakefield,  but depending on the situation it could easily be Daisuke Matsuzaka or James Shields going for their teams. But for now we’ll play along with the announced starters. Tim Wakefield has just been death on Rays hitters for his career, but that changed this year. The Rays have been more patience with Wakefield in 2008(8 walks, 7 K’s) and have hit him hard(17 hits in 15 innings). Sonnanstine on the other hand struggled before 2008 against the Sox, but literally has been lights out vs. Boston this year. In two huge games against Boston, he did not surrender an earned run including a start in Fenway Park. Wakefield has been much better at home this year, but he is so unpredictable from start to start. Another factor is the Rays speed. If the Rays get on base they will be running on every opportunity they get against Wake and that could cause fits for the Sox.–TR

Also some stats to consider:

• The Rays bullpen is 7-0 against the Red Sox this season.
• The Rays are 18-10 at home against the Red Sox under Joe Maddon.
• The Rays were 15 for 17 in steal attempts this season against the Red Sox.
• Aki Iwamura hit four of his six home runs this season against the Red Sox.

Jackson in Hinske Out. ALCS Roster Set

Accoring to The Heater the Rays are adding an 11th pitcher and going with 14 position players for the ALCS.   RHP Edwin Jackson has been added to the ALCS roster while OF Eric Hinske has been dropped.  Hinske didn’t seemed upset by the decision, saying:

“That’s how it is. It’s something that I can’t control. I’ll be ready if somebody gets hurt. It’s not about me, it’s about the team winning ballgames. No reaction.”

We at OutsPerSwing agree with the teams decision to add a pitcher and drop a position player, we just thought it would be Troy Percival added instead of Jackson.  Percival had a workout today and said he felt “awesome” and it was as good as he’s thrown in years.  Yet Percival, like Hinske, took being left off the roster in stride, adding:

“I know that I’m healthy and ready to go if they need me,” he said. “I am physically ready now, they know I’m physically ready now, but the way they’ve got their bullpen set up they needed somebody that can throw some more innings.”

Jackson, who won 14 games during the regular season, will probably be the long man in the pen now.  If the Rays need someone to go 3+ innings in relief then Jackson will be the man.  I’m guessing that Jackson probably won’t be seen in this series.  I don’t see any way the Rays bring him into a close game.  Jackson has just been too much of a liability on the mound in the second half to trust in a tight situation, especially with an offense as good as the Red Sox have. 

ALCS Rotations Set; Game 1: Shields vs. Matsuzaka

As we shift focus from the ALDS to the ALCS,we get our first bit of real news. Both teams released their ALCS rotations today. The game 1 match up will be Rays ace, James Shields vs. Daisuke Matsuzaka. The rest of the match ups are as followed

Game 2: Scott Kazmir vs. Josh Beckett

Game 3: Matt Garza vs. Jon Lester

Game 4: Andy Sonnanstine vs. Tim Wakefield.

Game 5,6,7 if necessary.

Given Kazmir’s career numbers at Fenway(3.02 ERA in 11 starts) I’m a little surprised to see him start in game 2, while Matt Garza, who tends to struggle on the road will open up the Fenway portion of the series. I thought maybe a flip flop of the two would be better matchups for the Rays.  This year Garza’s home ERA of 2.89 is almost a full two runs lower than his road ERA of 4.53. He also has given up 14 home runs in 91.1 inning on the road. That is almost three times the amount of home runs he has given up at home(5) in almost the same amount of innings (93.1).

Kazmir has struggled vs Boston this year. He has a 9.00 ERA in four starts and Sox hitters are hitting .324 against him. However, his numbers at the Trop against Boston are truly staggering. In two home starts vs. the Red Sox, Kaz has given up 13 earned runs on 13 hits with eight walks and only five K’s. He has given up five home runs in just eight innings.  That is a 14.67 ERA in those starts.

I’m not surprised to see the Sox throwing Beckett in game 2 and Lester in game 3. Beckett has been a much better pitcher on the road this year. His home ERA of 5.65 is almost twice as high as his road ERA of 2.85. He also has been especially good at the Trop. At Tropicana Field he has held Rays hitters to a .137 BAA and has a WHIP of 0.60 in Tampa Bay. He has give up just two earned runs in 15 innings of work(1.20 ERA). Jon Lester has been the better home pitcher with an ERA of 2.49 at home compared to 4.09 on the road.

ALDS Review: The Keys To The Rays Success

Whew! Take a deep breath. The Rays are going to the ALCS and we have a few off days to relax. Before we start previewing the ALCS, we wanted to take a look back at a few key reasons for the Rays ALDS victory. Here’s our list:

Top of the Order: The Rays table setters definitely did the job in this series. The 1-2 punch of Aki Iwamura and B.J. Upton combined to go 12-36(.330) with a double, two triples, four home runs and eight RBI. The #3 guys(Carlos Pena, Willy Aybar and Carl Crawford) also did their job going a combined 8-16(.500) with four RBI. Carlos Pena lead the team with a .545 OBP for the series and Upton and Aki tied for the team lead with four RBI a piece in the four game series. So to total up all the numbers for the series, the Rays top of the order had a combined .380 average(20-52) with a double, two triples, four home runs, 12 RBI and 10 runs scored. Thats pretty good for five guys playing in their first postseason.~TR

Willy Aybar: Can we change the phrase “Johnny on the spot” to “Willy on the spot”? Aybar filled in for Carlos Pena at first base while Pena was on the DL in early June. It was Aybar’s first action in the Majors at the position and he held his own defensively. He also hit safely in 12 of the 18 games he played there. Then he did it again across the diamond at third when Evan Longoria went out with a broken bone in his arm in August. In 30 games filling in for Longoria, Aybar hit .308/.373/.525 with 14 extra base hits and 18 RBI. So naturally when Carlos Pena took himself out of the lineup with an eye injury in game one if the ALDS Willy Aybar stepped up with the game tying sac fly and then added a single and a run scored in the 5th inning.  He would follow that up the next day by going 2-3 with a double and another run scored. Not bad for a guy that was traded for Jeff Ridgway.~TR

Dioner Navarro: I said it earlier, but Dioner Navarro does not get enough credit for the job he does. Offensively, defensively and handling the pitching staff, Navi has done it all this year and done it all very well and that continued in this series. Navi caught a career high 117 games this year so he is in uncharted territory when it comes to the physical toll taken on his body. That didn’t stop him from catching every pitch in the ALDS and helping the Rays pitchers put up a 3.34 ERA in their first playoff series. But Navi didn’t stop there. He hit .400/.438/.600 with three doubles and three RBI for the series. The guy just comes up big in big situations and people really need to appreciate the job he’s doing out there.~TR

Defense: Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. Pitching and Defense wins championships. The Rays calling card all season long has been pitching and defense. Going into the ALDS there was some concern that maybe the Rays inexperience would make them jittery on the big stage. Those concerns would be unfounded as the Rays played flawless defense the whole series and did not commit one team error. The Rays also turned three double plays and made a few “web gems” including Gabe Gross robbing A.J. Pierzynski of a home run in the top of the first in game 4.~TR

Bullpen:  The main reason the Rays are where they are this season.  We all know that the Rays pen went from one of the worst in the history of baseball last season to one of the best in the majors this year.  A ginormous part of that were the performances of J.P. Howell and Grant Balfour, who we’re going to nick name Bread and Butter, and it continued in the ALDS.  The Rays starters didn’t go especially deep into any game, so Bread and Butter were continually called on in big spots, each pitching in three games and 7.2 innings combined.  They only allowed four hits in those innings and struck out 10 while giving up one walk.  Also Chad Bradford was used perfectly in this series, allowing one base runner in his three innings of work.  As a whole the bullpen allowed one run in their 11+ innings of work in the series.-EH

Evan Longoria:  Evan deserves all the credit in the world for a huge game one, helping the Rays set the tone early and propelling them to their 6-4 victory.  After that, it’s a different story.  It was like Evan didn’t even show up at the plate over the last three games of the series, getting only one hit in his final 12 at bats while walking once and striking out 6 times.  He’s always there with the glove and made some fine defensive players, and I know that other players like Iwamura and Upton stepped up when Evan’s bat went cold, but I the Rays are going to need him to swing the bat well for them to take down Boston. -EH

Starters:  None of the starters were especially outstanding in the four games, but none killed the team either.  The starters gave the Rays a chance to win every game in the series and that’s all you can ask for.  James Shields was classic James Shields, allowing an early home run then buckling down and getting the win.  Scott Kazmir had trouble early on also, but like Shields he actually calmed down and pitched well after the first inning.  Matt Garza hit a bit of a rough patch in the fourth inning after moving through the first three innings easily, but rebounded and gave the team six innings of work.  Even though Andy Sonnanstine only worked 5.2 innings I think his performance was the best of all.  If the Rays lose game 5 then all the pressure is on them and who knows what happens.  Andy came out and pitched very well, allowing only two solo home runs to this White Sox team.  He could have gone longer, he was at only 75 pitches when he was pulled, but it was another solid start in a big game by Sonnanstine.  As a whole the starters allowed only three home runs to a White Sox team that lead the league in homers during the regular season.  If they can pitch this well, or just a bit better, against the Red Sox I like the teams chances.-EH

Joe Maddon:  Joe Maddon didn’t make any spectacular managerial decisions during the series, but he did make all of the right moves at the right times and showed why he is going to be AL Manager of the Year.  Maddon stuck with what brought him here and didn’t try and get too cute with anything.  He brought Balfour and Howell in at the absolute right times and pinch hit when he needed to.  For every move that Ozzie Guillen had, Maddon had a counter.  After Sonnanstine looked to be getting hard and possibly headed for a big inning, Maddon wasn’t afraid to pull him out after only 74 pitches, knowing Howell could come in get the left hander Jim Thome.  In game three Maddon brought Trever Miller in to face left handed A.J. Pierzynski, eventually allowing a walk.  If this were a regular season game I think Maddon would have saved his pen and allowed Miller to face the right handed Jermaine Dye.  Knowing he couldn’t afford to give up anymore runs Maddon brought in Chad Bradford and Bradford got Dye to ground into a double play.  The best move I thought Maddon made was letting Bradford face the heart of the White Sox order in the 9th inning of game two.  The Rays scored insurance runs in the 8th inning so Dan Wheeler wasn’t really needed, but with a must win game on the line I think Maddon would have gone with Bradford anyway in that situation.  The White Sox are a power hitting lineup and Wheeler has allowed his share of home runs this season, so using Bradford, an extreme ground ball pitcher, was a brilliant move. -EH

Now all they need is to do all these things over again in just a few days and we’ll be happy.

Rays Are Going To The ALCS, Defeat White Sox 6-2

ALCS Game 4(Rays Win Series 3-1)

Rays 6, White Sox 2

WP: Andy Sonnanstine(1-0)

LP: Gavin Floyd(0-1)

Inside The Box Score:

• B.J. Upton: 2-4, 2HR(3), 2RBI(4), BB.  Set the tone with a home run in the first inning.
• Carlos Pena: 3-4, 2RBI(2), BB, 2SB(2)
• Cliff Floyd: 1-2, RBI(1), 2B(1)
• Dioner Navarro: 1-4, RBI(3)
• Aki Iwamura: 2-5, 2B(1)
• Jason Bartlett: 1-4, 2B(1)
• Carl Crawford: 0-2, 2BB, 2SB(3)
• Gabe Gross: 0-3, BB, Great leaping catch at the wall to rob Pierzynski of extra bases.
• Evan Longoria: 0-5, 3K, 6LOB
• Andy Sonnanstine(W, 1-0): 5.2IP, 3H, 2R, 2ER, 1BB, 4K, 2HR
• J.P. Howell(H,3): 1.1IP, 1H, 0R, 0ER, 0BB, 1K, 0HR
• Grant Balfour: 2IP, 0H, 0R, 0ER, 1BB, 2K, 0HR

Erik’s Take:  Glad to see the Rays come out and jump on Gavin Floyd early.  As I pointed out yesterday Floyd can give up the deep ball, more than almost anyone in the American League, and B.J. took advantage.  The team also took advantage of Floyd’s inability to hold runners on, and Pierzynski’s poor arm, to rack up four stolen bases. 

Sonnanstine pitched well, only allowing those two solo shots.  Maddon wasn’t going to mess around last night, pulling Andy after only 74 pitches.  He went to his bread and butter, J.P. Howell and Grant Balfour.  They shut it down and the Rays advanced. 

Good to see Crawford letting it loose on the bases again.  When he’s healthy and getting on base this is a whole different lineup.  Longoria didn’t look so hot after his amazing game one.  Hopefully he can get it going again against the Red Sox. 

Like Tommy said, this team hasn’t been getting the respect it deserves all season.  Yes many articles have been written about what a good story the team is, but everyone expected them to fade or show their inexperience at some point.  It hasn’t happened yet.  They get to face the most experienced team left in the playoffs now, you knew it had to come down to these two, didn’t you?

Tommy posted his take in the previous post and we’ll have a full ALDS recap up sometime this afternoon.

Upton Blacksout White Sox Season; Rays Move On To ALCS

And that happened. The unlikeliest AL East Champs just became the unlikeliest team to move on to the American League Championship Series. The Rays took their latest step forward tonight in their improbable 2008 season by defeating the White Sox 6-2 to clinch their first ALDS victory 3-1.  

It was yet another hero stepping up for the Rays tonight as B.J. Upton, who has been heavily criticized all season, delivered two home runs tonight including a solo shot in the first inning that set the tone and put the Rays up 1-0. Upton would add another solo shot in the 3rd inning, his 3rd homer of the series, to put the Rays up 2-0.  The Rays would add two more runs in the 4th inning on an RBI double by Cliff Floyd and another clutch RBI base hit by Dioner Navarro to put the Rays up 4-0.

The White Sox hitters struggled all night, falling behind Rays starter Andy Sonnanstine. Sonny, working on 10 days of rest, showed us all why he was chosen over the Edwin Jackson to be the Rays 4th starter. He’s ability to throw strikes set him apart from Jackson and that was the main reason he was able to get the win in this ALDS clincher. Sonny threw 70.6% of his 75 pitches for strikes and held the Sox hitters to just two runs on three hits and a walk. He gave up two home runs, but was able to minimize the damage by giving up just solo shots.  Sonny has given the Rays big starts over the last six weeks and none was bigger than this one.

Carlos Pena had three hits tonight included two RBI singles that put up some “jug” runs on the board and put the Rays up for good 6-2. The Rays top of the order(Iwamura, Upton & Pena) produced all series long and today was no different.

Also producing for the Rays all series long was the bullpen which has really been excellent all season. The 1-2 punch of J.P. Howell & Grant Balfour came up huge again with 3.1 shutout innings. Howell came on in relief of Sonnanstine and worked one out in the six inning and also worked a scoreless seventh. Balfour came in pumping fastballs and was able to record the final six outs including a strikeout of Ken Griffey Jr. to end the series.

Another big part of the Rays success tonight, and all series long, was speed. The Rays had four more steals tonight including two by slugger Carlos Pena. Pena was also caught stealing once. Carl Crawford continues to prove that he is healthy with two consecutive swipes.

The Rays were supposed to contend for .500 at season’s beginning. In June, they were just a nice story, but they were destined to fail. Before the All Star break they crashed to reality, losing first place and were supposed to never get it back. In August, they were peaking too early and would collapse in September. In September, the pressure would get to them and the Red Sox were supposed to catch them and win the East. Once the Rays won the East and clinched a spot in the ALDS their experience was going catch up to them come October.

They would open the ALDS against the more experienced White Sox, who won three straight elimination games to get there. The Sox would have much of their 2005 World Series team in tact and Mark Buehrle, one of the tough lefties that was supposed shut the Rays down, said he wanted to face the Rays because he thought they were the easier matchup. Oops, somebody forgot to tell the Rays all that. The Rays brushed the dirt off their shoulders all season long and now are just four wins away from going to the World Series.

Well now what are they going to say? My bet is nothing. When push comes to shove the Rays have passed every test put in front of them. We are going to the ALCS Rays Fans. 9 now equals 4. GO RAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Garza Struggles In 4th, Rays Fall To Pale Hose; Lead Series 2-1

“I let my team down.  I had good enough stuff to put us over the top, and today was my fault.  They gave me the three runs I needed, and I failed.”–Matt Garza

ALDS Game 3(Rays Lead Series 2-1)

White Sox 5, Rays 3

WP: John Danks(1-0)

LP: Matt Garza(0-1)

SV: Bobby Jenks(1)

Inside The Box Score:

• B.J. Upton: 2-5, HR(1), 2RBI(2)

• Aki Iwamura: 2-5, RBI(4)

• Dioner Navarro: 2-3, 2B, R

• Evan Longoria/Carl Crawford/Willy Aybar: 0-11, 4K, 1BB

• Matt Garza(L, 0-1): 6IP, 7H, 5R, 5ER, 4BB, 4K, 0HR

Erik’s Take:  Garza shouldn’t take the loss so hard.  He pitched ok, not as well as he could have, but the Rays offense didn’t give him a ton of runs to work with.  He did commit the cardinal sin for a pitcher, walking the leadoff man.  He did that twice and both times the runner ended up scoring.  Those runs ended up being the difference in the game. 

The Rays lost even though they didn’t allow a home run to the White Sox.  The White Sox generate most of their runs by the home run, so their winning the game without one is surprising.  The Rays missed a big opportunity there. 

B.J. did his best to keep the team in the game, launching a ball into left field that hasn’t landed yet.  Good to see him with a power stroke.  It’s been an off year because of his shoulder injury, but that’s a glimpse of the kind of power he has. 

The team wasted a couple of good opportunities early against Danks.  If you want to win a game like that against the other team’s best pitcher you can’t miss early chances to blow the game open.

Tommy’s Take: The Rays just didn’t have the magic today. They were able to come from behind in the previous two games, but the Sox didn’t let them get back in this one. To the Rays credit they fought all game and even brought Carlos Pena up in the 9th inning as the tying run, but it was not meant to be.

Once again the 4th inning was the achillies heel of Matt Garza. In the regular season opponents had an OPS of .827 against Garza in the 4th, the highest of any inning. That trend seems to have continued over to the playoffs. All in all it wasn’t a terrible start by Garza. He was able to keep the Sox in the park which was good, but as Erik said he gave them way too many free passes.

The top of the order produced for the Rays going a combined 6-15(.400) with all three RBI. The Rest of the line up went 2-20 with Dioner Navarro having both hits. It’s going to be tough on most nights when your 4-9 hitters don’t give you any help. Hat tip to the one armed man in B.J. for hitting a home run with a torn labrum look almost effortless.

The Rays have shown an incredible ability to bounce back after tough losses, so I’ve trained myself not to get down after a game like yesterday. I have confidence in the way the team played yesterday and have confidence in Andy Sonnanstine. The Rays have a chance to make everything right in just a few hours.

Rays Next Game:  Andy Sonnanstine(13-9, 4.38) looks to step it up again in a big game.  If he can pitch like he did in the two close wins against Boston in September the Rays will have a good shot at taking the series tonight.  In three starts against the White Sox this season Andy is 1-0 with a 3.00ERA and 1.14 WHIP.  He hurled a complete game shut out against them way back on April 19th.  He also actually has a lower ERA(4.35 to 4.40) and WHIP(1.21 to 1.37) on the road.  He’ll be opposed by Gavin Floyd(17-8, 3.84).  Floyd has had a breakout season, but has yet to face the Rays.  Floyd has been very good at home, going 10-3 with a 3.55ERA and .209BAA.  He is prone to give up the long ball however, allowing 30 during the regular season.  Hopefully Carlos Pena and friends can get ahold of a couple.

OPS ALDS Notebook:

• Stupid Question of The Day:  Carl Crawford has never been to the playoffs before, but a Tampa TV reporter still asked him if winning the clinching game in a series is the hardest.  “I don’t really know,” Crawford said, “because I’ve never been in that situation.”