A Tampa Bay Rays Blog: Ball on a Budget
This game started like a chess match and ended like a street race, and once the Rays hit the gas, the Yankees could not catch a break. For six innings, this one had all the tension of a real pitchers’ duel. Nick Martinez was not overpowering, but he was calm throughout, which against the Yankees […]
Go Rays!
Through his first three starts of the season, Steven Matz is making the 2- year, $15M deal he signed with the Rays this offseason look like quite the steal. The 34-year-old southpaw took the mound for the third time this season and left with this third win. This time, Matz held the dangerous Yankees lineup […]
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The Rays dropped the final two games of their first home series back at the Trop against the Cubs, undone by a quiet offense and some uncharacteristically poor defense. An off day gives the position player group a chance to reset – both cleaning up defensive miscues and settling back in at the plate – […]
Through four innings, this was an enjoyable game. Joe Boyle and Colin Rea took two different approaches attacking hitters as each limited the other side to just one run. Boyle made an early mistake missing his location on a putaway sweeper that Nico Hoerner converted into a leadoff home run, but then Boyle quickly rebounded […]
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Up until Monday afternoon, Rays RHP Drew Rasmussen was the probable starter for tonight’s matchup against the Cubs — probable. His wife Stevie went into labor early with their second child and the Rays had a bullpen game. A 16-hit day and 9-2 drubbing was the result. Mason Englert, Cole Sulser, and Yoendrys Gomez got […]
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In action, Kevin Cash appears to have finally cemented what we have been championing since January on the site. Forget what the team says about Closer by Committee, there is one closer and his name is Bryan Baker. Baker earned his first save in a Rays uniform yesterday, at the home opener for Tropicana Field’s […]
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The Rays played all last season in the home run prone Steinbrenner Field, and made their return to the pitcher-friendly Tropicana Field by….hitting three home runs. They won their home opener against the Chicago Cubs 6-4. Let’s start with the bad news. Anyone who had the wild fantasy that Shane McClanahan would return after over […]
We made it home! Go Rays!
There has been plenty of discussion surrounding Kevin Cash’s lineup decisions. Cash addressed those concerns recently, noting that the team expects to experiment with different lineups throughout the season. Much of the focus has centered on Chandler Simpson’s place in the order and Junior Caminero’s lack of traditional lineup protection. It’s not a matter of […]
The Rays beat the Twins today 4-1, and won their first series of the season. This was a quintessential pitcher’s duel, with both starters pitching at least six strong innings. Nick Martinez, making his second start as a Ray, was especially impressive. He gave up one hit – of course it happened to be a […]
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Every so often a blind squirrel finds a nut and the Rays bullpen did just that this evening tossing three scoreless innings to lock down a 7-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins. However, the real story on the frigid Saturday night was the performance turned in by Steven Matz, who picked up his second win […]
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Defense, defense, defense Rays lose 10-4 on a cold home opener in Minneapolis Nick Fortes continued his red-hot April with a two-RBI double to open the scoring in the first. Jake Fraley led off the fourth inning with a double, and Ben Williamson swapped spots on the bases with Fraley with another double. 3-0 Tampa […]
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It’s a week of home openers, as the Rays extended road trip to allow more time for the Trop to be prepared to welcome fans again sees them head to Minnesota next for their home opener, before flying back to St. Pete to host the Cubs on Monday. With the Rays sitting at 2-4 on […]
The Rays have completed their first week of games facing off against a pair of NL Central teams. Below are five early trends to watch as the Rays look to build momentum in April. It’s still early, but these indicators can give us a directional sense of what’s real and what might regress. 36.7% is […]
Early season schedules are a peculiarity, and a getaway game on an early April afternoon is one of those things. The Rays were licking their wounds from a rough loss on Tuesday night—but a blessedly solid outing from the returning Shane McClanahan—and were hoping to come away with a series win before hitting the road. […]
Go Rays, actually!
It has been a long time since we’ve seen a start from Shane McClanahan. Since August 2, 2023, in fact. But the former All-Star has dealt with bad hand after bad hand in terms of injury, and his path back to the majors hasn’t been an easy one. Tonight, all eyes were on the mound […]