The Tampa Bay Rays had another themed road trip, dressing in pajamas before departing for Baltimore. They all look great, particularly Ben Zobrist, but I’m a little disappointed that hipster manager Joe Maddon hasn’t been able to pull off his dream “skinny jeans” road trip yet, where the bus blasts Neutral Milk Hotel and anyone with boot-cut jeans is forced to find their own transportation to the game.
(via SF_Jef)
John Jaso had one of the greatest catcher baserunning nights you’ll ever see, and it all happened in just one inning. Jaso led off the tenth inning with a pinch-hit walk, advanced to second on an infield hit, then stole third, before scoring on a squeeze bunt. Meanwhile, Hank Conger of the Angels suffered the indignity of giving up a catcher stolen base - and of third, to boot! It was like a pitcher yielding a grand slam to another pitcher, a basketball player getting dunked on by Shawn Bradley, or the Cookie Crook getting his own breakfast stolen by a different mask-wearing cereal bandit. Conger wasn’t in the starting lineup, and you can see him thinking, “I’m not even supposed to be here today!”
Sam Fuld steals second base against Minnesota. Meanwhile, his helmet bails out because it just can’t stand the awesomeness.
(AP photo)
Johnny Damon hit a walk-off two-run homer, and the Rays won their first home game of the year - and third game in a row. While Mr. Damon should deservedly feel proud of his clutch hitting tonight, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that the extra-inning rally was started by a single to right by none other than the legendary Sam Fuld. I hesitate to call them “extra” innings, since the number of innings in a baseball game is however many Sam Fuld feels like playing that night.
He also stole a base earlier, or rather, the base was returned to Mr. Fuld’s rightful ownership. Tomorrow, the Rays and Twins face off again, as Ron Gardenhire tries to figure out what to do with his unreliable bullpen, and what, if anything, he can do to appease the angry Fuld. (There’s nothing.)
(AP photo)
#LegendofSamFuld
Johnny Damon vs. Boston, 2011
.555/ .600/ .888
2R, 5 RBI, 1 HR, 1 SB
Johnny Damon vs. Everyone Else, 2011
.125/ .152/ .219
2R, 2 RBI, 1 HR, 2 SB
If this keeps up tomorrow, I wouldn’t be surprised if he re-grows the caveman beard.
(Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)
Reunited and it feels so good
Reunited ‘cause we understood
There’s one perfect fit
And, sugar, this one is it
We both are so excited
‘Cause we’re reunited, hey, hey
In the end, the Rays were undone by their inability to hit left-handed pitching. Here, DH-of-last-resort Dan Johnson gets his bat sawed in half by Cliff Lee. Johnson popped out and struck out against Lee, then Joe Maddon pinch-hit the right-handed Willy Aybar for him. Aybar struck out, too.
For want of better options, Carlos Pena had to start against Cliff Lee twice; he struck out in six of his seven plate appearances. If only the Rays had a right-handed DH! Someone with home-run power, a flair for game-changing hits, and a rhyming nickname, perhaps someone whose salary the Rays were already paying. But they released Pat Burrell in May, and it’s not like he would contribute in the playoffs. Right?
Here’s a shot of David Price’s back, the same back that was turned to the plate when Elvis Andrus scored from second on a 3-1 groundout, and when Vladimir Guerrero scored from second on an attempted 3-6-1 double play.
Price pitched well: he had six strikeouts in six innings, and didn’t walk a single hitter. But when covering first base, he was like Chuck Knoblauch versus a team of Johnny Damons - only Knoblauch actually learned his lesson after giving up one run. If Tampa had any tabloids to rival the New York Post, we’d be looking at a slew of “THE PRICE IS WRONG” headlines tomorrow. But since it’s Tampa, we’ll probably see something more like, “Buccaneers Win!” or “We Actually Have a Baseball Team?!?”
The Rays aren’t having a stellar defensive game, but at least one person in Tampa is flashing the leather.
(Photo by J. Meric/Getty Images)
Carlos Pena is a double agent no more! Returning to Texas has lit a fire under the Rays’ first basemen, who had four hits, four runs, and four RBIs in the two games in Arlington. Was it the return to his first baseball city that re-ignited Pena’s bat? No. He just didn’t have to face a left-handed starter.
