Tagged: Carlos Pena
ALCS game 4 – Wow, just wow
I just don’t know how we are doing this. I mean, I know this Rays team is good – very, very good – but still, this is the first ever postseason for most of them, and they’re playing at Fenway against the been there, done that, got the t-shirt Red Sox. The defending World Champion Red Sox.
But man, are we playing some good baseball. And while the Sox are most definitely not out of it yet – their ALCS comebacks of recent years are still fresh in the memory – if we can carry on pitching, hitting and fielding like we have in the last few games, then there is no reason why the first pitch of the World Series couldn’t be thrown at Tropicana Field. We need one win in the next three games to get there. That is a scary thought.
Now I am stupidly tired this morning (game finished at 4.18AM, I went to bed and set my alarm for 8AM…), but I don’t care. Last night’s game was totally worth it. Three hours and seven minutes of pure Rays-world joy…
ALCS game 3 – You ain’t never going to keep them down
I’m not even sure why I still get surprised at games like last night’s. I mean, this is just what the 2008 Rays do. They take a situation where they’re supposed to fold, supposed to be overwhelmed, and they come right out swinging their bats, making their pitches, and generally taking the game right to the opposition. And they keep winning. Its a crazy, crazy thing that these Rays have got going on.
With Jon Lester making the start for the Sox, the prospects for a Rays win weren’t exactly promising. Not only had Lester not been beaten at Fenway since April, but he had never lost to the Rays (indeed, Boston had never lost a game to the Rays in which he pitched) and he was working on an impressive 20+ inning streak of postseason baseball without allowing an earned run.
But its the Rays. The 2008 Rays. So you can throw all that out the window.
It all started fairly innocuously. After a first inning that Lester sailed through 1-2-3, Evan Longoria led off the second with a walk…
ALDS game 4 – “He is a winner”
Andy Sonnanstine over Edwin Jackson?
I think it would be fair to say that there are not many managers in the big leagues that would make that call. Fortunately for the Rays, Joe Maddon is one of them.
So it was Sonny who went last night in Chicago for game 4, and by the time he left with two outs in the 6th, Joe Maddon was once again looking like the smartest man in baseball. Ok, so 5 2/3 innings isn’t the longest outing of the season, and he did give up 2 homeruns. But the way he was pitching, it was almost as if those homers were peace offerings so the White Sox hitters didn’t feel too bad about getting totally out-played by a man who doesn’t trouble 90 on the radar gun…
ALDS game 1 – Welcome to the postseason Mr Longoria
I’m willing to bet that there’s not many people out there who had remembered that Gary Gaetti hit homeruns in each of his first two postseason at-bats.
Something tells me that you’re going to remember that Evan did it.
Because this 22-year-old rookie is a bit special. I mean, he missed a whole month of the season through injury, yet still led all rookies in homeruns. He hit three longballs in one game, just a couple of weeks after his return from a fractured wrist. And now this.
First pitch – homerun. Third pitch – homerun. Then an RBI single, a walk and just for good measure a stolen base. Just your average sort of day when your name is Evan Longoria…
9=8
“Its about 9 guys, playing hard for 9 innings, to take one of the 8 playoff spots.”
So said Joe Maddon of his t-shirt design, back in Spring Training. And we laughed. Sure, we admired his ambition and his coinfidence, but frankly I think we’d have been happy with a season in which we didn’t lose 90 games. A .500 season would have been awesome. And a winning season the stuff of dreams.
Joe Maddon is a smart man. He thinks before he speaks, and he doesn’t go in for hyperbole. But he knows baseball.
And I will never doubt him again.
‘Cos the Rays are going to the playoffs.
And the win that sealed it was a perfect example of the mantra that the Rays have lived by all season. It saw 5 pitchers limiting the Twins to two consolation runs late on. It saw 6 batters drive in runs. And, of course, it saw a myriad of sparkling defensive plays, from Evan Longoria, from Fernando Perez, from Rocco Baldelli, from Dioner Navarro and from Carlos Pena.
Before the game, the local chapter of the BBWAA announced their team award winners. Their selection of team MVP pretty much sums up the way the season has gone. It wasn’t Pena with his 31 homeruns and 98 RBI. It wasn’ Longoria with his 25 homers, 82 RBI and spectactular defense. It wasn’t Navarro with his team-best .292 average and immense play behind the plate. It wasn’t any of our starting pitchers, all with at least 11 wins.
No, it was a guy who has hit .280 with 1 homerun and 33 RBI. Jason Bartlett. A guy who, along with Matt Garza, we received in a trade last winter for Delmon Young. And you know what, without his defense, and without his spark, I don’t think we’d be in this position right now. And I guess that makes a pretty good definition for the Most Valuable Player.
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The way this week started though, you wouldn’t have been betting on the celebrations that the Trop saw last night. Monday’s loss to Boston wasn’t just ugly, it had the potential to be mentally destroying. When your ace takes the mound, in a huge game, and gets tagged for 6 hits, 4 homeruns and 9 runs in just 3 innings, you’ve got a long way to bounce back. By the time the 13-5 defeat was done with, Scott Kazmir’s confidence was shattered, and the Rays were in a virtual tie for first place in the East for the first time since the All-Star break.
So how do you come back? You send your number 5 starter to battle with your rival’s ace. As it turns out, its a masterplan. For the second time in a week, Andy Sonnanstine went toe-to-toe with Josh Beckett, allowing just a single unearned run in 6 innings. Balfour, Howell and Wheeler did their thing, kept it shutdown, and let the walk-off happen like it has so many times already this year. Tuesday night it was the turn of Dioner Navarro, his walk-off single (it would have been a ground-rule double had he not been mobbed on the basepaths) the margin in a 2-1 win.
So, Wednesday, and a massive game. Heading out, the Rays would either be tied with the Sox, or have a 2-game lead. And, perhaps more importantly, it would decide the season series – a Rays win would seal the matchup 10-8, giving them the edge if the AL East were to go to a tiebreaker. And the Rays would have to deal with their nemesis, Tim Wakefield.
Unfortunately for the Sox, they had to deal with Joe Maddon. After the success of the non-switch hitting switch hitters against Mike Mussina last weekend, Joe had Willy Aybar and Fernando Perez repeat the act against Wakefield. They responded by both hitting homeruns off the knuckleballer – according to Elias, the first pair of switch hitters to both hit homeruns from the wrong side (ie righty v righty) in the same game since division play started in 1969. Gabe Gross went deep as well, and the Rays coasted to a 10-3 win. Yeah.
After those two feel-good wins, Thursday was another loss that threatened to be disheartening. We knocked the Twins starter out in the first, putting up a 5-spot, but couldn’t shake the pesky Minnesota hitters. Evan Longoria became just the second Ray (after Jonny Gomes) to hit three homeruns in a game, but it wasn’t enough as closer de jour Dan Wheeler had a rare meltdown, allowing four runs as the Twins fought back to a 11-8 win.
Still, if at first you don’t succeed, and all that. Friday night the Rays took until the second to knock the Twins starter out the game, but thanks to a great start from Edwin Jackson (7 IP, 7 hits, 5 Ks, 1 run), this time there were no late game fireworks. Evan Longoria added 3 RBI to his series output, while Carlos Pena had four of his own, three of which came on a history-making homerun – originally ruled a fan-interference double, it became the first ever call to be overturned by video replay. An 11-1 win, and a game away from history.
And, wouldn’t you just know it, that it was Scott Kazmir, after getting shellacked in his last start, who came up big yesterday. 6 shutout innings, 5 hits and 5 strikeouts, and the Rays’ winningest ever pitcher was rewarded with the W. The win that sends the Rays to the postseason for the first time ever.
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9=8
Joe Maddon had it right all along.
Well, not quite. The nine innings and eight teams is right. But the number of players, well he was way off. This season has been the ultimate team effort. And its been even better to watch as a result of it. From the mohawk-fever thats sweeping the clubhouse, to the beards for Rocco earlier in the year, to the never-ending stream of shaving foam to the face victims, its been a joy. There was a great quote from Scott Kazmir in the St Pete Times yesterday – “We got Mohawks and everything. We might as well do dugout chants.” And you know what, he’s right. Rather than the highly-paid professional athletes that they are, the Rays have played more like a bunch of mates playing for some high school team, wanting to win not for themselves, but rather for their friends. Its a great attitude to have, and no small part of the Rays’ success this year.
And its architect? Joe Maddon of course.
This entry is cross-posted in full from my blog’s main home.
Net lagged: The Rays effect
You know the story. A nightmare start to the roadtrip. More injuries. A struggling offense.
And then the Rays effect takes over.
Due to one thing and another, I’ve just finished watching Wednesday night’s game three of the Boston series. I watched games one and two on Wednesday and Thursday, hence the longer than usual net lag delay. But, in the end, it was worth the wait.
After arriving in Boston, things started with a scare as reliever Juan Salas had an epileptic seizure. He’s fine, and back with the team, but its harldly a calming way to start a crucial series. Then the game came, Edwin Jackson gave up three runs in the first inning, and things looked grim…
Tigers swept, now questions to answer
There are certainly easier ways to a sweep.
Not letting a (admittedly impressive) rookie one-hit you into the seventh inning for one. Not having your closer blow a save with his first pitch, and then give up the go-ahead run to the first batter in extra-innings for another. And not having your shortstop get hurt in trying to put together a second comeback after the first two have occurred.
But who wants the easy way, right?
2-0 down, and nothing to show apart from an Evan Longoria infield hit is where the Rays found themselves at the seventh-inning stretch yesterday…
The Rocco question
Hmmm, its almost a whole week since my last post, and for once its not because I’ve been terribly busy. Rather, its because of the particularly unispiring run of performances that have been put in. A four-game series split on the road in Kansas City, and the first two in Toronto also shared.
Its all been the same old story to be honest. Solid pitching, dazzling defense, and no hitting worth speaking off. Actually, a couple of bits, such as a couple of homers from Carlos Pena, and a 2-triple game from Carl Crawford (who added another last night), were pleasant moments, but by and large its been a struggle. The highlight of the trip so far has without question been in the field – Jason Bartlett returned…
Not the answer you might expect
The question? You have two pitching duels, AJ Burnett against James Shields, and Roy Halladay against Matt Garza. Who is going to come out on top?
I’m betting most people would pick the Jays’ hurlers to get the better of things nine times out of ten. Well, not this week. This week, two out of two have gone to the Rays.
Friday night, it was James Shields on the hill, looking to end our 7-game losing skid, and get the second half off to a good start. And boy did he ever do it…
“That all men are created equal…”
Well I hope that everybody on the other side of the pond had a very enjoyable Independence Day. Its not exactly something that is celebrated over here (I can’t imagine why!!!), but I enjoy it, as it always gives me a good reason to re-read the Declaration of Independence, which in my mind is one of the finest written pieces of political text – of any text, in fact – ever produced.
Still, whatever the Declaration says, it’s demonstrated time and time again that, as far as baseball is concerned, all men are not created equal. In fact, some are just so unequal that it is almost ridiculous. Take Evan Longoria, for example…
Rays from across the Pond 