MVN - Most Valuable Network

Rays Beat Yankees, Win 5th In A Row

Led by Matt Garza’s seven shut out innings the Rays defeated the Yankees 7-1 to improve to 22-16. The Rays have won five straight overall and 10 straight “home” games.  Garza allowed just five hits and one walk over seven scoreless. He struck out three batters and lowered his ERA to 3.86 in the process. Since allowing three runs in the first two innings of his initial start off of the DL, Garza has allowed just 1 run in his last 16.2 Innings of work. He seems to have found his “arm” and comfort zone. I’m not the only one who’s noticed it which is great news.

Inside the Boxscore:

• Evan Longoria 2-4, 2 runs scored 
• Aki Iwamura 2-5, 10 game hitting streak
• Dioner Navarro 3-3, 2 RBI
• Jonny Gomes 2-4, 3 Runs scored, 2 steals
• Trever Miller 1 IP, O H, 1K

On a side note, I think Jonny should be playing 3-4 times a week, but that’s me.

OPS Notebook:

• Ben Zobrist was activated off the DL. Andy Cannizaro was DFA’d to make room for Benzo. Zobrist has missed all 38 of the Rays games and will assume the “super utility” role for now.
• Al Reyes wasn’t activated just yet, but could be after tonights game. As we speculated Scott Dohmann is in line for the DFA.
• The Rays are 16-11 against the AL East. They are the only AL East team with a winning record against their divison foes.
• From Stats, Inc. The Rays are tied for the best record(19-0) when leading after 8 innings. If you were around the bullpen past few year watching I can’t tell you how much that stat means.
• Rays Index wants to you vote or die for Carl Crawford. Please do so and also make sure Dioner Navarro is on your ballot.
• Plenty of Rays vs. Marlins chatter on ESPN. Jayson Stark picks the Rays

Much as I admire the Marlins’ thump and hustle, this is still a team winning with a very shaky formula. Florida’s rotation just nudged its ERA under 5.00. The Marlins have committed the most errors in the league (33). And they had been outscored for the season by their opponents until they bludgeoned the Nationals, 23-7, over the weekend. So I’ll take Tampa Bay — a team with superior pitching, an offense that has outscored the Yankees and has had the look of a team Team On The Rise since the first day of spring training. 

• More ESPN love, but from Buster Olney who is a certified member of the Rays bandwagon since early this year.  He breaks down 12 things that have made the Rays the team that they are including this.

No. 2: Delmon Young racked up 186 hits and 93 RBIs in his rookie season with Tampa Bay in 2007, and yet the Rays traded him in the winter in a deal for pitcher Matt Garza and shortstop Jason Bartlett — an extremely bold move, because Young was seen as a rising star, and because there had been so much early discussion about how Young is destined to be a Hall of Famer, with his spectacular eye-hand coordination and ability to hit the ball with the fat part of the bat.

But it is evident that in their internal evaluations of Young, the Rays also looked at other factors: Young’s willingness and ability to make adjustments; his uncomfortable and sometimes stifling clubhouse presence, borne out by his threats to walk out at the end of the 2007 season; and the frustration he engendered in other teammates. “He just doesn’t work very hard,” said one Ray. 

There has been little doubt about Young’s talent, and even the possibility that he will go on and have a career of many hits and RBIs. But the Rays seem to have made a very sound judgment that he would not reach his full potential with them, a savvy decision that takes courage. 

Super late and Super Short Recap today due to some scheduling issues me and Erik had today.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 13th, 2008 at 5:59 pm and is filed under MVN Rays. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.