Hopefully ya’ll have finished celebrating the 6-2 victory last night and the amazing start by Scott Kazmir.  However, it’s now time to look ahead to not only tonight’s rubber match vs. the Yanks but also the looming trade deadline.

• Rays: Buyers or Sellers? In the past, the Rays have used the trade deadline to pick up great minor league players with large upside (see Scott Kazmir) in exchange for veteran players that were ready to lead OTHER teams to championships.  This year, however, the Rays may be experiencing the trade deadline from the other side of the street, as they have been some of the most active teams in search of talent, hopefully leading them to a playoff birth this year.  The Sox have already been active with two trades in the past week, (although not acquiring any big name players).  The Rays are looking at players like Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez (Indians) Jarrod Washburn (Mariners) and even Doc Halladay (Blue Jays).  Some of the players the Rays have been rumored to be shopping range from MLB pitchers Kazmir and Shields to CC, BJ Navi and even Pena.  My prediction for the next 2 days rests soley on whether the Rays win tonight’s game vs. Joba Chamberlain and the Yanks:  If the Rays win tonight’s game (and, in turn, the series) against the Yanks, they will be large buyers this year; however, if they don’t win tonight and fall 7 1/2 games back of first, they may not make as much noise as some of us would like.  The fact that the team is off Thrusday will give Andrew Friedman and the rest of the front office alot more time to make secure decisions on whether to make a large deal or not.  Stay tuned to my blog for the latest Rays trade info.

Having set-up the importance of tonight’s game, I’ll make my prediction.  The game tonight pits Joba Chamberlain (6-2 3.86 ERA) against Rays ace Matt Garza (7-7 3.68 ERA) on national television ESPN.  For the Rays, this is a must win game if they want to stay in the race for the division and even the wild-card title.  Look for Matt Garza to come out firing on all cylinders tonight, I think Garza’s first time through the line-up will preface the rest of his night.  Look for Garza to be dominant and the Rays offense to fire away against the young right hander.  Final Score: Rays 8 – Yanks 3 Player of the Game: Ben Zobrist

Well, the Rays left me leaving the Trop pleasently surprised tonight after a great 6-2 victory over C.C. Sabathia and the Evil Empire!  Scott Kazmir looked like his old self on the mound tonight, going 7 innings and only giving up one run while K-ing 4.  Kazmir, who grabbed his first win in his last 8 appearances, showed flashes of his old self, going 7 innings for the first time since July OF LAST YEAR!

This was a huge win for the Rays, as they get back the game they lost on the Yanks last night, and hopefully gain a game on the Sox in the wild card (Sox losing 8-7 to A’s in 11th as I type).  Just a fun fact for all you statisticians out there.  Of the Rays last 4 homestands, tey have lost the first game 3 times.  Out of those three times, they have only lost one game after the loss in all 3 homestands!  If that stat were to hold true for the Rays this week, they would be back in prime striking position to overtake Red Sox Nation in the Wild Card standings!

Goodnight and GO RAYS!

After an All-Star break, 10-game homestand and jaw surgery, I have finally regained enough energy tobring back the blog for the rest of the season, (which will hopefully last til October)!

Instead of discussing everything that happened since my last post (way too long ago)  it’s time to be forward looking and discuss the rest of this series vs. the Yankees and the looming trade deadline.

Last night’s game was attrocious from behind the Rays bullpen where I was sitting, and I’m pretty sure it looked just as bad from everywhere else.  Shields, after a decent 1st inning, gave up 3 runs in the 3rd, most of the hits coming on the first pitch of at-bats.  However, maniacs, remember the last series we played the Yanks at home?  We blew them out in the first game 15-5, then lost the next 2 games close.  Hopefully the 9th inning home-run by Pat Burrell is a sign that he’s gonna start getting his engine going.  He is going to be a key contributor these last 62 games of the season,  in which the Rays sit 6 1/2 games behind the first place Yankees.  The Rays need to have a positive homestand this week, both on the field and in the front office.

Trade talks:  Even bloggers have their places where they look for info, and mine in draysbay.com.  They are reporting that the Rays have been shopping around Scott Kazmir to teams such as the Rangers and my even unload CC or ‘Los in order to make room for payroll and later trades.  My 2 cents on all of this:  Even though trade talks have been dominated by Halladay and the Phllies so far this year, look for things to heat up as soon as tomorrow morning.  I expect the Rays to be big “movers” this year, with Kazmir scheduled to make so much money the next couple of years and BJ and ‘Los coming up on free agency, look for the Rays to pick up a big name in the next couple of days.

My Beef of the day:  Seems like back when I wrote this blog daily, BJ Upton was always making me angry, and things havent really changed!  B.J. is still the 1st batter in the line-up, even though his numbers haven’t gotten any better.  I believe that Jason Bartlett has earned the chance to lead off, but I don’t think that Papa Joe will make that move any time soon.  I would hate to see this team CC-less and still have BJ in the 1 spot in the order.

Tonight’s prediction:  The Rays take on CC Sabathia in game 2 of this 3 game series.  It’s safe to say this game is a close to “must win” as it gets without technicaly being must win.  Kazmir takes the hill for the Rays, and he has suggested over the past couple of days that he would like to finish his contract in Tampa.  If he really wants to stay in Tampa Bay, he’ll put up a touchdown in the first inning of tonight’s game.   Although I don’t see him letting in a touchdown tonight, I think that he’ll have a tough time with this potent Yankees line-up, and the evil empire will put this game away early.  Final Score: Rays 4 – Yankees 9  Player of the Game: Mark Texeira

Kaz threw 78 total pitches, 55 of which went for strikes.

That’s right… I said 55 strikes!

This is a good sign for the Rays rotation if we can get back the Scott Kazmir of yester-year, but that unfortunately leaves one person odd-man out in the starting rotation.  Who that will be we can worry about another time, but for now, all signs point to a healthy, ready Scott Kazmir!

After my weekend long hiatus of Father’s Day fesitivites, grilling, and a Rays series victory over the Mets, I am back and ready to comment on the important series ahead.

However, as the Spanish poet George Santayana once said “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”.  Therefore, I shall divulge on the events since my last post, both the good and the bad, using the handy Bullet Points option:

• The steadiness of the bullpen – The bullpen has definitely been coming together as of late, and this past road trip was no exception!  The Rays were forced to come from behind in both victories vs. the Mets, and the bullpen (with the exception of a misplaced pitch by red-hot Joe Nelson), allowed us to make our move in both games.  Hopefully this momentum can carry over as the Rays finish interleague play this week.
• The Resurgence of B.J. Upton – Anybody that has been reading this blog over the past month knows that I am not the biggest fan of B.J. Upton hitting at the leadoff spot in the order, but B.J. certainly made his case this past week.  He was able to get the right hits at the right times, quietly racking up AL player of the week honors in the process.  Do I think he should be hitting in the leadoff spot now, no. I think that B.J. has shown signs of taking off in regards to power and average, but Jason Bartett is also quietly riding a 16 game hitting streak, only two less than the Rays all-time record set by Quinten McCracken back in 1998.  I still think Bartlett and his average should be leading us off in the order, but now B.J. is turning into a decent alternative for me.

NOTES FOR THE HOMESTAND!

Alright Rays fans, our team is back home for six interleague games in six days, three against the Philidelphia Phillies, the ’08 WS rematch, and then three against our cross-state “rivals” the Florda Marlins.  The Phillies are coming to the Trop having lost six games in a row and eight of their last nine.  However, all of those games for the Phillies were at home, where they sport a horrendous 13-22 record.  Unfortunately, that means their road record of 23-9 is one of the best in the Majors.  The Rays need to calm the bats of Utley and Ryan Howard, who will be returning to the lineup after missing time with flu-like symptoms.  As long as the Rays starters keep the game close going into the late innings, a injury-ridden Phillies bullpen gives the Rays a fine chance to get a late inning W.  Look for the Rays to take two out of three from both the Phills and the red-hot Marlins (a series which I will comment on later in the week).

Get to the Trop this week!  I’ll be there everyday!  You don’t want to miss these games!

-Out

Upton CF
Crawford LF
Longoria 3B
Pena 1B
Zobrist 2B
Burrell RF
Bartlett SS
Hernandez C
Price P

Hope everybody had a great day after last night’s convincing victory!  The offense was out in full force and production from the usual (Longo, Pena, Zobrist) and the not-so-usual (KAPLER?!) was enough to give the Rays a 12-4 win.  My player of the game pick Ben Zobrist was just a double short of the cycle, finishing 3-5 with 3 Runs scored.  Kapler also had a major night, going 3-4 with 4 RBIs!

Tonight’s Prediction: Look for the Rays to try and jump on Rockies starter Aaron Cook early and often.  However, the deciding factor in this game is going to be the starting pitching of David Price.  Price has to control his pitch location as well as his pitch count and go at least 6 in this ballgame.  Instead of giving a score prediction like I usually do, I am going to do say this: IF Price goes at least 5 2/3 and walks less than 4 batters, the Rays will win this game.

P.S.  We are going to try our live chat feature yet agan for tonight’s game!  Click on the link here on the blog at 8:30 and join in on the discussion!

7th inning… look for my game analysis after the game!  GO RAYS!

The Rays are hopefully rested up and ready for more interleague play, this time against the Colorado Rockies.  It’s a late start tonight (8:40 est), which shouldn’t make a difference for the Rays.  It’s a battle of the winning streaks, as the Rays are putting up their 5-game win streak against the Rockies’ 11 (yes, 11) game win streak.  This series is shaping up to be very important for both the Rays and the Rox, as both are looking to get back into the playoff hunts in their respective leagues.  The Rays are tied for third in the AL East, five games behind the first place Boston Red Sox.

My Road-Trip Prediction: My prediction for the last homestand came true, as I predicted the Rays going 5-1 vs. the Angels and Nationals (unfortunately, I did not record that prediction anywhere, so you really don’t have to believe me).  The Rockies are probably the hottest team in baseball right now.  The pitching matchups, in my opinion, are in the Rays player, with Neimann, Price and Garza starting it off vs. the Rockies.  The date to circle: Saturday afternoon 4:10… Shields vs. Johan Santana on national TV!  I feel that the Rays, facing a Rockies team on a roll and a very good Mets team, will manage to go .500 on this road trip.  Look for the offense to be out in full force tonight for both teams!  Tonight’s score: Rays 11 – Rockies 9 Player of the Game: Ben Zobrist

Rays’ Starting Lineup:

Upton CF
Crawford LF
Longoria 3B
Pena 1B
Zobrist 2B
Bartlett SS
Kapler RF
Navarro C
Niemann P

The Rays finally nailing down their first swee of the season with a 5-4 victory over the nationals thanks to the heroics of Gabe Kapler (who else?) and the third base bag!  The Rays are 3 games over .500 and are finally tied for third in the AL East with the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Rays are going into a three game series @ Colorado in which the offense and bullpen are firing on all cylinders, but the starting pitcher needs to imporve, especially if the Rays want to win at Coors Field.  Neimann, Price and Garza are going to be the three starters in the upcoming series, and I think the Rays need to, no, HAVE TO win at least two of these three game at Colorado before we travel to Citi Field for three and finish off the NL East with The Phills and Marlins at home.  Look for my predictions tomorrow or Tuesday!

GOOOO RAYS!