MLB

The National League makes it two wins in a row since 1995-1996 with a 5-1 win in the All Star Game tonight. Some thoughts: The last few All-Star Games have been really good, especially the 15 inning thriller in 2008. Tonight’s game–not so much. Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee retired the first 11 hitters of the game before Adrian Gonzalez hit a homer. Prince Fielder answered back with a three run homer in the fourth that went off the top of the wall in left center. It kind of felt at that point that this game was over. Manager Bruce [...]

With the All-Star Game coming in less a little less than a month here are my picks for the National League All-Star team. I followed the rules that MLB does to select the teams. So, the roster has 34 players and every team is represented. Let me know what you think in the comments below. Starters: C: Brian McCann-Atl 1B: Prince Fielder-Mil 2B: Rickie Weeks-Mil 3B: Placido Polanco-Phi SS: Troy Tulowitzki-Col OF: Matt Kemp-LAD OF: Lance Berkman-StL OF: Jay Bruce-Cin SP: Cole Hamels-Phi   Reserves:

With the All-Star Game coming in less a little less than a month here are my picks for the American League All-Star team. I followed the rules that MLB does to select the teams. So, the roster has 34 players and every team is represented. Let me know what you think in the comments below. Starters: C: Alex Avila-Det (The catching position is rather thin in the American League. Avila has been the best offensive catcher in the league). 1B: Adrian Gonzalez-Bos 2B: Robinson Cano-NYY SS: Asdrubal Cabrera-Cle 3B: Adrian Beltre-Tex OF: Jose Bautista-Tor OF: Matthew Joyce-TB OF: Curtis Granderson-NYY [...]

Last night, in front of almost 21,000 crazed Rays fans, Boston strolled into town having crushed their way to nine straight wins. In the first inning, with the bases loaded and two outs, former Ray Carl Crawford and his $142 million dollar contract came up to bat. Had Crawford won that first battle with James Shields, it might well have been lights out for the evening. Instead, Shields got Crawford to ground out to Casey Kotchman, who flipped the ball to Shields covering first to end the threat.   Crawford actually received some accolades from appreciative Rays fans, but the [...]

June 10, 2011 A:  Baltimore Orioles Attendance: 17,900 Rays (33-30) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 Orioles (30-31) 1 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 X 7 11 1   W: Jake Arrieta (8-3) 4.48 ERA L: Jeremy Hellickson (7-4) 3.03 ERA   Summary:

  The first day of the MLB draft is over and the Rays have walked away with quite a haul.  I don’t know if any team in recent history has had the number of picks the Rays accumulated, but they certainly did load the pantry yesterday and it’s not close to over. Between their regular picks, those they traded for and compensatory picks for the rash of players who left the team after the 2010 season. Here are how they held so many after first rounders and who they took: First round No. 24 (from Red Sox for Crawford) – [...]

May 31, 2011 V. Texas Rangers Attendance: 12,783 Rangers (29-25) 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 1 0 4 7 0 Rays (28-25) 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 2 x 5 5 2 HTML Tables W: Joel Peralta (2-3) 3.25 ERA L: Arthur Rhodes (BS,2)(3-3) 4.85 ERA SV: Kyle Farnsworth (10) 1.50 ERA Summary:

After last night’s thrashing at the hands of the Texas Rangers, Tampa’s May record stands at 13-12, and the Rays are 3-7 in their last ten games. After starting out the month 8-3, including a sweep of the Orioles and a series win against the Cleveland Indians, the Rays have managed only five more wins, and the schedule isn’t any easier. One the home series versus the Rangers concludes tomorrow night the Rays head out for an 11 game road trip. They’ll play four at Safeco against the Mariners then swing down to Los Angeles for three games against the [...]

You knew it would happen sooner or later. The Red Sox have too much talent to lay dormant for long, and their recent surge, coupled with the Rays troubles over the past few games, have the AL East looking like quite the scrum right now. Baltimore is the only team under .500, and that by only two games. The Yankees bats have kept them alive even as they continue patching holes in their pitching staff with guys like Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia. So what has happened to the once high-flying Rays? Well, honestly, it’s baseball. No team can continue [...]

May 22, 2011 A: Florida Marlins Attendance: 15,432   Rays (26-21) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 3 5 1 Marlins (26-19) 2 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 X 5 6 0 W: James Shields (5-2) 2.00 ERA L: Jay Buente (0-1) 9.00 ERA Summary: