I’m baaaaaaack!!Driving home from Daytona now, see u guys on the field tomorrow!

— Matthew Joyce (@sweetswingin20) July 17, 2012

Simply put, the Rays desperately need offense. Matt Joyce is the best bat they have not named Evan Longoria and he’s been out since June. They hope that having a healthy Joyce in the lineup can ignite their offense. It’s frustrating to get great pitching and consistently lose games. Hopefully Joyce can help change that. A couple of ex-Rays gave some nice comments about their time with the Rays.

Johnny Damon on facing #Rays here: “I miss not being here everday, I’m not going to sugar coat it at all.” — Joe Smith (@TBTimesRays2) July 16, 2012

Casey Kotchman said he got “spoiled” last year playing for hometown team, “absolutely” open to future return to #Rays: “You never know.” — Joe Smith (@TBTimesRays2) July 16, 2012

It seems like every ex-Rays player has glowing things to say and it’s always good to hear. And finally, especially for all of you who think that the Rays have no fans, look at this Marc Topkin tweet.

#Rays TV ratings up 58.1 pct from this point 2011, 3rd largest increase in MLB (behind #Rangers, #Dodgers)

— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) July 16, 2012

Now imagine how much it would go up if the Rays were actually playing well!

The Rays have been ridiculed for their defense all season. Their turnaround in this game began when they got a copule breaks of their own. With 1 out in the 6th, Carlos Pena hit a perfectly placed groundball that he beat out for an infield single. Then Ben Zobrist hit a groundball to second base for what looked like a surefire inning-ending double play, but shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera missed the catch, and everyone was safe, giving the Rays continued life. Two batters later, Luke Scott hit a flyball to right-center just off the glove of centerfielder Michael Brantley to score 2 runs, and two more batters later, Desmond Jennings drilled a 2-run double and suddenly the Rays were within 5-4. McAllister wound up going 5.2 innings allowing 4 runs, none earned, on 4 hits, striking out 8 while walking 3. He threw just 89 pitches, 56 strikes, in what was an effortless outing and could have continued to do if his defense had stayed sharp.

Shields did not pitch well, but in vintage Shields fashion, he stayed tough and kept the Rays in the game, going 7 innings allowed 5 runs, 4 earned, on 10 hits, striking out 5 while walking 2. Joel Peralta relieved him for the 8th, but allowed a Shin-Soo Choo homer and the Rays trailed 6-4 heading to the top of the 9th inning. Shields battled, the offense came alive, yet the Rays were about to suffer a debilitating loss to end the first half. Indians closer Chris Perez came in to close out the game.

Among a series of unlikely events, even Rhymes couldn't believe it. (Credit: David Richard-US PRESSWIRE)

Jose Lobaton struck out looking to begin the inning and the Rays had just 2 outs remaining. But Perez then left a fastball up and middle-in to Will Rhymes, and Rhymes picked a perfect time for his first homer of the season, a laser into the right field seats to pull the Rays within 6-5. Elliot Johnson then singled up the middle to put the tying run on base with Carlos Pena coming to the plate. And Pena did something he seems to never do, serving a slider that stayed up and away towards left-centerfield. The centerfielder Brantley, who was shifted towards right-center, sprinted towards the ball and made a dive, but he just missed, scoring Johnson as Pena slid into third base with a triple, also his first of the season. And Ben Zobrist capped the comeback with a bullet single to right field to give the Rays a 7-6 lead. Fernando Rodney nailed down his 25th save in the 9th inning, working around 2 hits, as the Rays won in dramatic fashion 7-6. It was an unlikely chain of events, but somehow everything came together at the same time and the Rays came away with an improbable win and one with the potential to turn their season around. One win means next to nothing. But the Rays go into the All-Star Break with a good taste in their mouths for once and showed the baseball world that even though nothing is clicking, even though the pitching and the offense and the defense haven’t been consistent, they are going to give everything they can to fight through.

John Jaso, who the Rays traded to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for Josh Lueke, made his season debut as the Mariners’ DH on Wednesday night and came up huge in the Mariners’ 4-3 win over the Texas Rangers. Jaso was 0 for 2 to begin the game before coming to the plate against the Rangers’s Alexi Ogando to begin the 8th with the Rangers ahead 3-0. But Jaso drilled a triple into the right field corner to give the M’s some momentum and he later scored on a Dustin Ackley RBI single to pull the Mariners with 3-1. Jaso then came up in the 9th inning against Rangers closer Joe Nathan in a 3-3 game after the Mariners had put together a rally. But the rally was not over yet as there was the go-ahead run on third base with 2 outs. But Jaso came through with a big RBI single to give the M’s the lead, and Brandon League closed it out as the M’s came all the way back in the final two innings to win 4-3. We may have traded Jaso, but it’s hard not to root for him, especially against the Rangers, the team that has eliminated the Rays from the postseason the last two years.

On another front, the Rays’ DH in 2011, Johnny Damon, has finally appeared to find a home to continue his charge towards 3000 hits as Ken Rosenthal tweeted that Damon is close to agreeing to a deal with the Cleveland Indians, who are shorthanded in the outfield following Grady Sizemore undergoing back surgery which will sideline him until at least June. Damon posted a .261/.326/.418 line (110 OPS+) with 29 doubles, 7 triples, 16 homers, 73 RBI, and 19 stolen bases in 25 tries for the  Rays in 2011, pretty nice numbers, but the Rays let him go because they wanted more power from the DH slot, something they hope Luke Scott can provide them. Johnny is currently at 2723 hits, and good luck to him as he approaches 3000.

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(Cover image credit Steve Mitchell, US Presswire)