MVN - Most Valuable Network

Rays Defeat the Yanks 2-1 in 11; 1st Place in East & Best Record in AL.

 ”I tell you what, It doesn’t suck” Jonny Gomes on being a Rays Player

The Rays are back in first place after defeating the Yankees 2-1 in 11 innings. Edwin Jackson pitched another wonderful game throwing seven shutout innings, but for the second straight start was denied a win because of a Troy Percival blown save. Jackson also had a shutout going last week in Toronto after throwing 8 scoreless innning and handed a 3-0 lead over to Percival, but he couldn’t shut the door. However, this is a different Rays team than the past, and they came back that night and had an even more impressive comeback last night against on of the all time greats, Mariano Rivera. Cliff Floyd lead off the 11th inning with a single and was lifted for pinch runner Jonny Gomes aka The Steal Machine. Jonny stole second(his third steal in two games) and scored the game winning run on a Gabe Gross single of Rivera. The hit looked very Luis Gonzalez-like to me. The Rays have won six in a row overall, 11 straight at “home”, and are a franchise best seven games over .500 at 23-16. Not only are the Rays are in 1st place in the AL East, but they have the best record in the entire American League.

Inside the Boxscore:

• Edwin Jackson: 7IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K. Personal 15 inning scoreless streak
• J.P. Howell(W, 3-0): 2 IP,  0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K. No runs in last 8 innings pitched
• Dan Wheeler(H, 9): 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
• Aki Iwamura: 2-5, 11 game hit streak(20-51 during the streak)
• Dioner Navarro: 2-3, .375/.416/.458 this season
• Cliff Floyd: 2-4, and 4-8 since coming off the DL

Tommy’s Take: Ok I need Erik to snap me back into reality because I’m starting to think Edwin Jackson may actually be turning a corner. He’s made eight starts this season, five of which he’s allowed 1 run or less, including three where he hasn’t allowed a run at all. He has throw 15 straight scoreless inning and the most important number to me is the two walks is those 15 innings. It seems his control is improving. Last night he threw 72 of 111 pitches for strikes(64.86%).  His BABIP(.274) is lower that James Shields and his BB/9 is a more respectable 3.83. I’d still like to see his 1.62 K/BB rate improve, but while I’m still not convinced that he’s come around, I’m starting to warm up to the idea.

Infact the entire starting staff has been incredible. If you take out Andy Sonnanstines start, the Rays starters have thrown 37 straight scoreless innings over the last five games.

Joe Maddon named J.P Howell one of his unsung heroes for the Rays and he’s right. After failing as a starter, it seems J.P. has found his role as a long reliever with the Rays. Howell has a 2.67 ERA, 1.074 WHIP this season. He has allowed 19 hits and eight ER in 27 innings.

How bout that Jonny Gomes!!! He’s like David Eckstein with talent and skill. Joe Maddon has given Jonny the green light on the bases.

Erik’s Take:  Holy crap.  That’s all I can really say.  I know everyone is saying it, but it’s amazing to see the Rays get a game winning hit against Mo Rivera to move into first place and secure the best record in the American League.  It’s like a dream.  I feel like someone is going to punch me and it’s I’m going to snap out of it and see the Rays in last place again.  Hopefully this dream lasts the whole season.

 I’m with Tommy, I’m hoping Jackson can prove me wrong.  I’ve been his biggest detractor, and right now it looks like I’m going to have to eat crow.  I really hope he can keep this up.  I doubt his ERA stays this low, but if he can be in the 4.00-4.20 range I’ll be happy.  Having everyone else in the rotation pitching well has to have had some effect on Jackson’s success.  When your 4 rotation mates are going out and pitching gems it makes you want to keep up with them and not be the weak link.  Keep it up Jackson.

The Rays have won six straight and they have Shields and Kazmir starting the next two games?  Does it get better than that?

Rays Next Game: James Shields(4-2, 3.14 ERA) goes against Mike Mussina(5-3, 4.36 ERA). Shields is coming off a 2-Hitter and a 1-hitter at home, so there is only way to go from there…no hits.  He has not allowed a run in his last 18 innings at Tropicana Field. Overall, he has a 0.75 ERA, 0.50 WHIP, and .125 BAA in three starts at the Trop this year.

OPS Notebook:

• Tommy Rancel was quoted in Will Carroll’s Under the Knife column yesterday for a comment he made to Will in a conversation about Matt Garza.

Matt Garza (0 DXL)
Tommy Rancel, who writes for Outs Per Swing, nailed it in an email: “Ever since he found his arm in that third inning against Boston he’s been lights out.” Sometimes, pitching is as simple as getting comfortable. After coming back from radial nerve irritation, Garza took a bit to feel not only comfortable and confident, but pitching coach Jim Hickey convinced him that he could let it go. That worked, and since then Garza has been what the Rays thought they were getting when they traded Delmon Young away. Even as good as the Rays have been this season, getting both Garza and Scott Kazmir into that zone–and Kaz doesn’t look like he’s quite there—is the key to keeping them good.

• In some extremely encouraging news Rocco Baldelli took about 50 swings in batting practice before yesterday’s game. Here are some quotes from TBO.com:

“I did a lot of tests when I had the last muscle biopsy done,” said Baldelli. “They found some things out, but it’s not worth me discussing because they have to do confirmation tests on all the tests they’ve already done. They’re running all the secondary tests now, so that’s what I’m waiting on.”

“Oh, yeah – I’m still trying to come back and play,” said Baldelli. “I’m hoping that some of the medications that I’m taking are going to help me get on the field for an extended period of time without having the problems that I had. That’s kind of the next step, is just trying new things and experimenting. It’s like trial and error, and hopefully one of them works.” 
 

• Al Reyes is feeling fine after playing catch and could be activated before tonight’s games.
• The St. Pete Times reminds us The Rays Magic number is 122 for those who are counting down.
• Hank Steinbrenner is mad again at the Yankees, but the shocker is he wants them to be more like the Rays.

“These players are being paid a lot of money and they had better decide for themselves to earn that money.” 

He pointed to the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays, who have taken two straight from the Yankees, as an example of a team playing the game with passion, saying his team has “got to start playing the way the Rays are playing,” according to the Post. 

As for the Rays, Steinbrenner said, “I’m happy for them, but I wish they were in the National League.” He said he wishes more fans would see the improved ballclub. “They only had 13,000 there (Monday) night,” Steinbrenner said. “That place should be packed. They’re an exciting young team.” 

• The Baseball Analysts pose the question, A’s and Rays here to stay? They run through the gamut of stats. Here is their conclusion

As you can see, both teams look entirely legitimate with regard to keeping runs off the board. Their peripheral numbers look great and they both appear to play very good defense. Keep in mind, too, that Scott Kazmir has made just two starts for the Rays while Rich Harden and Justin Duscherer (ok, maybe to nobody’s surprise) have both missed time. One potential regression area for Oakland may be their bullpen (do yourself a favor and have a look at the season Santiago Casilla is having).

It’s hard to imagine but it looks to my eyes at least that both Oakland and Tampa are entirely legitimate. They will both have tough fights on their hands in order to qualify for post-season play in the highly competitive American League but they have started the season on the right foot and both sure seem to feature the make-up of clubs capable of fighting through to the end.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 14th, 2008 at 8:24 am 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.