Tagged: Trever Miller
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 irony is not lost
There’s no doubt about it, I’m afraid. The Rays are struggling right now. We are right in the middle of a serious mid-season malaise.
The main reason behind it is obvious for all to see. We can’t hit. Our bats are asleep. The biggest culprits (if thats the right word) are Carl Crawford, BJ Upton and Carlos Pena, but with the exception of perhaps Evan Longoria (who homered in three straight games over the weekend), no-one has exactly been shining recently.
So don’t think that the irony of optioning Ben Zobrist back to Durham has been lost…
Maybe hits are overrated anyway…
Our series of ever-decreasing hits continued last night, as we racked up only five against the Sox and Javier Vasquez. To be fair, Chicago only managed four themselves, and our five looked as though they would be plenty, thanks to having number 19 on the mound.
Scott Kazmir continued his fantastic start to the season, throwing 7 innings, allowing only 3 hits and striking out six. With the win, he becomes the first Ray to win five in a month, and moves his record on the season to 5-1 with a 1.22 ERA. In fact, excluding his first, shaky start off the DL…
Net lag: K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-Kazmir
Well, its Wednesday morning, which must mean that its about time to talk about Monday night’s game.
Which, I think it would be fair to say, I enjoyed a lot. And that is in no small part down to Mr Scott Kazmir. I said a week or so ago that, despite racking up three straight wins he still wasn’t at his best. Well, last night he was…
O’s sweep!
That, was a better win. Ok, so we allowed Baltimore to score the same number of runs as on Saturday, and we scored fewer ourselves, but believe me it was a better win.
Take James Shields. Like Edwin Jackson the night before, he wasn’t at his best. But unlike Jackson, Shields didn’t let it affect him. He battled superbly, showing exactly the kind of determination that you want to see from a top-of-the-rotation pitcher. He ended with a no-decision, but make no mistake, if it wasn’t for him knuckling down and working through the innings…
Baserunning: Learn with Eric
Solid win for the Rays last night, thanks largely to, of course, some very solid pitching indeed. Matt Garza continued his sparkling record against the Orioles, pitching 7 1/3 innings, allowing only four hits, no runs, and striking out four. He worked out of a couple of jams as well, and was generally pretty excellent. Trever Miller came on in relief in a vital situation in the eighth, and with the help of a controversial call, didn’t disappoint. With a runner on, Aubrey Huff was the first batter that Miller had to face. Huff, who should quite frankly be banned or something for the disgraceful way that he has assaulted Rays pitching…
Rays from across the Pond 