Tampa Bay’s offense was explosive all night as Aubrey Huff hit a lead off single in the bottom of the second inning. Kansas City starting pitcher Zack Greinke walked Nick Green in the next play. Toby Hall doubled to left field, and Huff scored. Joey Gathright batted in the inning’s final run in, with Green scoring. Tampa Bay’s starter, Doug Waechter, got off to a rough start in the top of the third inning as he walked Alberto Castillo, followed by a single hit by David DeJesus. But, Tampa Bay’s defense was able to stop the Royals from scoring by ending the inning with a double play.

In the top of the third inning, everything looked all right for Greinke as he struck out his first batter, Jorge Cantu. However, Jonny Gomes stepped up to the plate and hit his first solo shot of the night, putting the Devil Rays up 3-0. Tampa Bay continued the offensive action in the fourth inning as Toby Hall hit a single to left field. Greinke struck out Gathright but gave up a triple to Julio Lugo, allowing Hall to score.

Gomes struck again in the fifth inning as he hit another one run homerun off of Greinke, but Kansas City’s offense quickly came alive as Terrence Long retaliated with a homerun to lead off the sixth inning. Mike Sweeney singled but took advantage of a throwing error by Tampa Bay’s defense and advanced to second base. He was batted in by Matt Stairs in the following play. After walking Mark Teahen, Tampa Bay pitcher Doug Waechter was relieved by Chad Orvella, only to give up a run to Stairs after Berroa hit a sacrifice fly. However, Orvella redeemed himself in the next inning by striking out his first batter, Castillo, before being replaced by Trevor Miller.

Kansas City reliever Ambiorix Burgos struck out Carl Crawford and Huff in the bottom of the seventh inning, followed by Tampa Bay’s reliever Joe Borowski striking out two of the Royals’ batters and walking Emil Brown in the top of the eighth inning.

Hero Jonny Gomes blasted his way into history in the bottom of the inning when he hit a lead off homerun, making it his third homerun of the night. Gomes’ teammates continued the action throughout the inning as Travis Lee hit a triple then scored off of Hall’s sacrifice fly. Gathright hit a single but was able to advance to second base off of Royals reliever Mike MacDougal’s wild pitch to Julio Lugo.

The only other Rays player to ever hit three homeruns during a single game is Evan Longoria, who has accomplished the feat twice. Longoria first joined Gomes on the elite list for Tampa Bay during his rookie season, when he hit three homers against the Minnesota Twins on September 18, 2008. Longoria’s second time was October 3, 2012, the final night of the 2012 season, while playing against the Baltimore Orioles.

We’ve heard for a while now that the Rays are open to trading James Shields. But just because they’re open to trading him doesn’t mean there’s a high probability that it will actually happen.

“Oh, they’re open to it,” said an official of one team that checked in with the Rays. “They’re open to being overwhelmed.”

Jayson Stark of ESPN talked about who the Rays are listening to offers for Shields, but the asking price is in the neighborhood of the Matt Garza deal- a trade that netted the Rays top prospects Chris Archer and Hak-Ju Lee along with Sam Fuld and two other players who have seen big league time in outfielder Brandon Guyer and catcher Robinson Chirinos. The Rays love everything about Shields and they’re going to trade him just because they have pitching depth. They’re waiting for a package of players who they believe can make their team better both now and in the long-term even as they move on without the most dependable pitcher in franchise history, and that package may never come. If it is going to happen, the timing could be very similar to the Garza trade, which happened in January of 2011, because by that point all attractive free agent pitchers will be off the market and some team could be desperate enough to give the Rays what they want.

Scott strikes out a lot, doesn’t have any speed, and is not a good fielder; but boy, can he hit a ball a long way. He has averaged a home run about every 19 plate appearances in the minors and majors. His best season came in 2010 when he hit 27 home runs in only 131 games. In 2008 and 2010 he was 1st and 2nd in the AL in No Doubt homeruns. From 2008 to 2011, his homeruns traveled an average of 405 feet, further than Carlos Pena’s average.

Like many power hitters, Scott strikes out around 20% of his plate appearances, and has walked over 10% of the time every year of his career. His OBP last season was a disturbingly low .301. He has followed this pattern with a .304 OBP this season, thanks to 5.9 BB%. He is swinging at a lot more pitches this season than his career average. He is also swinging at 32.8% of pitches outside of the strike zone, much higher than his 26.8% career average; he is making much better contact on those pitches compared to his career average though.

Luke Scott is on pace to hit 35 home runs this season, assuming he can stay healthy. He is batting .247 – below his .263 career average – but his BABIP is only .239. Scott has played more than 132 games in a season only once, and last year played in 64 due to shoulder surgery. If he can stay at DH all season, his chancing of playing a full season are strong. However, if he continues to hit .125 against lefties, he may see his playing time limited to a platoon. Scott is prone to streaks, so Rays’ fans will have to take stretches of 0-4 games in order to enjoy his majestic bombs.

Luke Scott does his best Wolverine impression. Image: Tom Szczerbowski-US PRESSWIRE

Scott is known as a brash, old school player who is not afraid to speak his mind. Last year he was very vocal in speaking his mind about President Obama’s birth certificate. Earlier this season he called Fenway park a dump and Red Sox fans ruthless and vulgar. Maybe it’s his Wolverine mutton chops, or the fact that he has two first names, but Luke Scott is a very likeable player – if he is on your team. He reminds me of Jonny Gomes, who was not afraid to back up his teammates, was a great cheerleader, and could hit the ball a long way. As long as Scott can continue to hit – and keep the fans entertained – then he will be a valuable asset for the Rays this year.