David Price came out dealing for the Rays in the first inning, getting two strikeouts sandwiched around a groundout as he made the Blue Jays look helpless. But that was the only time in his entire outing that Price seemed to dominate. The Rays staked him to a 2-0 lead in the first inning against R.A. Dickey, with Evan Longoria plating a run with a double before scoring on Matt Joyce‘s RBI single, but it did’t take long for Price to put the Rays right back in a hole. A Brett Lawrie RBI single in the 2nd made it 2-1 before a Longoria error gave the Jays an extra out in the 3rd and Toronto took full advantage, taking a 3-2 lead against Price on a Jose Bautista RBI double and an Edwin Encarnacion RBI single. A Ben Zobrist triple followed by a passed ball tied the game at 3, but then the Jays got Price again, taking a 4-3 lead as Rajai Davis singled, stole two bases, and scored on a Jose Bautista sac fly. To that point, Price had gone 5 innings allowing 4 runs. Just 2 of the runs were earned, but by no stretch was Price pitched like an ace. In the 6th finally, though, matters reached a tipping point and Price finally came together like the Rays have been waiting for him to do for far too long.

In the 6th inning, Mark DeRosa singled to begin the inning against Price, but he rebounded to retire the next three hitters in order. It was the same story for Price in the 7th as he allowed a Henry Blanco single to open the frame but put down the next three hitters once again to keep the Rays down 4-3. Price had thrown 102 pitches to that point, but Joe Maddon sensed that something was different in Price and decided to leave him in for the 8th. Price made it scary, allowing long flyballs to Edwin Encarnacion and Brett Lawrie, but with some help from his defense he managed a huge 1-2-3 inning to finish his outing in as high of spirits as he has all season. Price went 8 innings allowing 4 runs, 2 earned, on 7 hits, striking out 8 while walking 1. He racked up some strikeouts, but he was far from overpowering overall, allowing a baserunner in every inning from the 2nd to the 7th. But he gave the Rays exactly the type of outing they have to expect from their ace, coming back from a tough start to go 8 strong innings and keeping the Rays in the game the entire way through. He stopped being tentative and started gaining confidence. Is this the type of game he’s been waiting for all season to finally pitch up to his ability?

The Rays had to be kicking themselves for all the opportunities they missed against R.A. Dickey. Last time Dickey came to Tropicana Field, he one-hit the Rays as a member of the Mets, narrowly missing a no-hitter after a disputed call in the early goings was called an infield single. This time around, he was not nearly as sharp. In 6 innings, Dickey allowing 5 hits and 5 walks, but the Rays were only to get him for 3 runs, 2 earned, and just 1 run after the 1st inning. The Rays couldn’t even manage a single hit with a runner on base after the 1st, and it seemed everything like it was going to cost them the game. But Yunel Escobar quickly reversed their fortunes to begin the 7th. Escobar got ahead of Steve Delabar 3-1 before getting a belt-high fastball, and Escobar didn’t miss it, drilling a game-tying home run just to the left of dead center to knot the game at 4. Escobar entered the game hitting just .177 and on a Rays team that has surprised at the plate, he has been the missing link. But with the game on the line, Escobar delivered his most important hit as a Ray and gave the Rays hope in a game they seemed so destined to lose.

Price gave the Rays his all through 8 innings, throwing 117 pitches, but then he was out of the game and in came the struggling Fernando Rodney in a 4-4 game. After the way Rodney has pitched, it was extremely hard to believe that he could live up to Price’s standard and keep the game tied. Instead, Rodney delivered an outing that was a microcosm of Price’s game. Like Price, Rodney came out dealing to begin the game, striking out Colby Rasmus on four pitches with his fastball touching 98 MPH before forcing Maicer Izturis to ground out weakly to second base. But then suddenly it seemed like everything was falling apart again. Rodney hit J.P. Arencibia with a pitch before a Rajai Davis bloop single put the go-ahead run at second base for Toronto with Melky Cabrera coming to the plate. Against Cabrera, though, Rodney looked the best that he has all season, striking him out swinging in a hard-fought 7-pitch at-bat featuring two fastballs at 100 MPH, to keep the game tied. After the Rays failed to score in the bottom of the inning, it was up to Kyle Farnsworth, who has struggled even more this season, to keep the line moving. And Farnsworth did just that, getting Jose Bautista to ground out, Edwin Encarnacion to pop out, and Munenori to retire on an excellent play by Farnsworth on a bunt right in front of home plate to send the game into the bottom of the 10th still tied 4-4. The Rays’ bullpen pairing of Rodney and Farnsworth thoroughly impressed. After the Rays’ bullpen certainly went from the best in the American League last year to the AL’s worst this year, is this the moment where it finally right itself?

Everything was set for a Rays victory as satisfying as any one this season–but first the Rays had to push the winning run across. They gave it their best effort in the 8th, with Luke Scott drilling a single with Evan Longoria at second base with 2 outs in the 9th, but Jose Bautista gunned down Longoria at home to keep the game going. But in the 10th against Aaron Loup, Longoria doubled for the second time in the game with 2 outs before James Loney was intentionally walked, and then Brad Lincoln came in and walked Ryan Roberts to load the bases. Lincoln then got ahead of Scott 0-2, but Scott battled the count back to 3-2 before taking a pitch in the dirt for a walk-off walk as the Rays won 5-4.

For the Rays, had to draw this game up any better. Price finished his outing on a roll, Rodney and Farnsworth had breakthrough outings, Yunel Escobar had his biggest hit as a Ray, and really in all facets of the game, the Rays gave their best all-around effort. The Jays refused to go down and hanged in their like they did to beat the Rays in the first two games of the series, but the Rays showed that they had finally had enough of the struggles, enough of the inconsistency, and willed their way to victory on a night that would have turned into a loss had everyone in the team not come through just as much as they did. The Rays find their way to a 4-game split with the Blue Jays after losing the first two games and are set to begin a 3-game Interleague series with the San Diego Padres on Friday night. Alex Cobb takes on Edinson Volquez as the Rays hope to keep this run that they’ve had the last two games going and show the AL East and the rest of baseball just how good they can be.

Roberto Hernandez was excellent for the Rays, going 6 innings allowing just 1 run on 5 hits, striking out 7 while walk walking just 1. His only real mistake was an Adam Lind homer in the second inning. He threw quite a few pitches, 103 to be exact, in his 6 frames, but he was dominant and gave the Rays about as good of an outing as they could have hoped for. Hernandez may have had another 15 or so pitches left in him, but Dave Martinez, managing for the ejected Joe Maddon, decided to pull him in favor of Jake McGee for the 7th. The results were predictable, like a harsh reality we dream isn’t true before it happens again.

The Rays got their offense off J.A. Happ in the second inning. A Sean Rodriguez double and a James Loney single began the inning before Rodriguez was called out trying to score on a Jose Molina groundball when replays showed that he had not been tagged. The play got Joe Maddon ejected from the game and may have gotten the Rays going. A wild pitch tied the game at 1 before Yunel Escobar singled, and then the Rays scored 2 more runs but not in the way anyone would have wanted as a Desmond Jennings line drive hit in the head. Happ was carted off the field after a delay, but he was conscious and waved to the crowd on his way out. Ryan Roberts capped the scoring with an RBI single to make it 4-1 Rays.

In the 7th, the struggling Jake McGee entered the game again and for the umpteenth time could not do the job. He retired the final three batters he faced–but only after allowing an Adam Lind double and a Colby Rasmus 2-run home run to make the Rays’ lead just 4-3. McGee did try to mix in his slider and threw a good one to get ahead 0-1 on Rasmus, but then he decided to come back with another one and hanged it, allowing Rasmus to tee off. The nightmare continued the following inning as Kyle Farnsworth allowed a game-tying RBI double to Jose Bautista before Cesar Ramos came in to get an inning-ending double play. Then in the 9th, Joel Peralta became the latest Rays reliever to implode, allowing a Maicer Izturis solo home run and a Melky Cabrera RBI double to make it 6-4, and that would be the final.

The Rays stuck to their formula. Their starting pitching was great, their offense wasn’t great but was opportunistic, and their defense were outstanding, not making any errors and delivering a few incredible plays. But the bullpen is just missing entirely, and that doesn’t seem like something that’s about to change. There is nothing worse than succeeding in just about every facet of the game only to have one glaring weakness take it all away. The Rays have to find some way to turn their bullpen around. Matt Moore goes for the Rays against Ricky Romero as the Rays hope to simply salvage a game versus the Blue Jays despite the fact that they should be going for the sweep right now. The way the bullpen is playing, Moore better toss his first major league complete game.

At Rays Fanfest, several Rays players got to meet up with the Tampa Bay Damage, a local professional tournament paintball team that participates in paintball competitions around the country, and the Damage invited the Rays for a paintball outing at a later date. Several Rays obliged, including David Price, Matt Moore, Jeff Niemann, Sean Rodriguez, and Kyle Farnsworth. The Damage players helped the Rays suit up and readied their paintball guns and were excited to see how the day would go but had no idea what to expect. They wound up being pleasantly surprised.

“I figured they weren’t going to run around too hard and risk getting hurt but you could tell when the game started and their adrenaline was rushing they were running as fast as they could and diving to the ground. Their reactions were priceless. After shooting a player, they’d go nuts and after the first game was over and they all lifted their masks every one of them had a smile on their face, a sure indicator they were having a great time.” – Damage team member Dan Holliday

Farnsworth had to be your pic for most likely Ray to play paintball, right?

Several Rays hadn’t done anything like paintball before and the Damage crew let the Rays play a few games among each other to get acclimated. But before long, the Damage guys joined in and everyone was having a blast. The Rays’ competitive streak was in full swing as they went all out trying to mow down the opposing team with their paint guns and laughing even about getting shot at. Here’s some video from the event.

They could have been any group of guys in America just heading onto the paintball field and having a great time shooting each other down with some paint. The Damage players got a completely different perspective on some of the players they had watched at the Trop but never really interacted with in person.

Although I go to games every now and then I’ve only known a couple of them, and for the others this was my first time meeting them and I was surprised how cool and laid back they all were. I don’t know- I guess there is stigma that a pro athlete is cocky and not such a nice guy but talking and joking around with these guys all day proved everything wrong.

Other than their heights, impossible to tell the difference between the Paintball guys and the Rays. We may forget a lot, but they’re regular people too.

We watch these players on a daily basis and do unbelievable things on the baseball diamond and we forget that deep down they’re just the same as all of us, regular people looking to have a good time. It has been incredible the way players like Price interact with fans on Twitter, and meeting them in person makes it even clearer that so many of them are nice guys and people we would want to be around off the field. Can’t say paintball is the way you would expect to get a window into your favorite professional athletes, but this whole experience with paintball did just that for the members of the Damage. Always fun to see a group of professional athletes simply showing that get them away from the field and they’re just normal people too.