Tampa Bay Rays 2013

[alexf388 10]

Alex Ferguson

 

The Rays will face the Boston Red Sox for another 3-game home series before we head back on the road again. The Boston Red Sox are currently 25-14, 2 games ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays and 1st in the AL East. As noted before, the Red Sox have a powerful offense that ranks in the top 3 of many offensive statistical categories. However, this offensive potential is obviously negated when the team is on the road; their 16-8 record at home versus their 10-8 record on the road is an indication of what happens when their offense is playing in other not so hitter-friendly parks. Their pitching, particularly their starting rotation, has not improved since the last time both teams have met: the starters' ERA has decreased to 5.25 ERA, good for second last in the American League. Their bullpen has remained steady with a 3.18 ERA, which is still good for 5th in the league. As we are playing at home, however, the Red Sox starting pitchers will likely benefit from Tropicana's pitcher-friendly dimensions, so the advantage of the Rays starters over the Red starters isn't as big as I'd like to think it is.

 

 

Game 40: Tampa Bay Rays (24-16) vs. Boston Red Sox (25-15) - May 14th, 2013

Jeff Niemann faced off against Boston's Clay Buchholz today in a pitching duel that lasted the majority of the game. Niemann would pitch 8.0 innings, and allowed two earned runs from two solo homeruns (one by Jackie Bradley Jr. in the 3rd inning, and one by David Ortiz in the 6th inning). Buchholz would pitch a complete game, but would allow 3 earned runs on 5 hits, including a two-run home run by James Loney, in the process. Overall the Rays offense was relatively silent, and the main contributing factor in this game was definitely Jeff Niemann, who would win Player of the Game honours for his pitching performance.

 

 

Game 41: Tampa Bay Rays (25-16) vs. Boston Red Sox (25-16) - May 15th, 2013

Another pitching duel would emerge between today's starters David Price and John Lackey. Price ended up allowing 2.0 runs on 4 hits in 8.0 innings of work, while striking out 9 batters and walking 1. Like Buchholz last night, Lackey pitched a complete game and allowed 3 earned runs on 5 hits, while striking out 3 and walking 3 as well. Once again the Rays offense was pretty much silent this game, with the only exception being catcher Jose Molina, who had a two hit game and hit a two-run double in the 2nd inning. Like Niemann yesterday, Price would be named Player of the Game for his pitching dominance this game.

 

Demoted Jamey Wright to Triple-A Durham - May 15th, 2013

Jamey Wright was demoted to Triple-A Durham to make room for Pat Egan. His ERA of 9.00 and FIP of 6.20 in 10.0 innings is not the kind of performance we want from a middle reliever.

 

 

Purchased the contract of MR Pat Egan from Triple-A Durham - May 15th, 2013

Pat Egan's contract has been purchased from Triple-A Durham following the demotion of Jamey Wright to the minors. Since signing a minor league contract with the Rays, Pat Egan so far has only pitched in 2.0 innings, where he had an ERA of 4.50. Although it certainly isn't promising, Egan did have promising numbers, including a 3.04 FIP against Double-A and Triple-A competition. In the majors, I figure it would translate anywhere between a 3.50 to 4.00 FIP. It's not the numbers of a dominant relief pitcher by any means, but it's definitely an improvement over the numbers Wright is currently pitching. And all I'm asking from Egan is to be an adequate middle relief pitcher, not an important position like being a setup pitcher or a closer.

 

 

Game 42: Tampa Bay Rays (25-17) vs. Boston Red Sox (26-16) - May 16th, 2013

For the first time since his last start on May 4th, Jeremy Hellickson was allowed to start today's game against the Red Sox after recovering from his day-to-day sore elbow. Hellickson proved unable to stop the Red Sox offense, allowing 6 earned runs in 6.1 innings of work, including 2 two-run homeruns by Dustin Pedroia (for this effort, Pedroia was named Player of the Game). Despite an attempted comeback from the Rays batters in the ninth inning that resulted in 4 runs scored, including a 3-run homerun by Ryan Roberts, the Rays were unable to overcome the deficit.

 

Today's loss wasn't the only bad news. 2B Kelly Johnson was taken out early in the game after injuring himself while running the bases. Current diagnosis is not known, but hopefully there will be news soon. For now, Sean Rodriguez will be the starting second baseman for the Rays until a diagnosis on Johnson's injury can be confirmed.

 

 

 

Series Summary:

The Rays would win two games out of the three-game series, though both games were very close victories. The Rays starting pitching, in particular Jeff Niemann and David Price, did an excellent job in keeping the Red Sox batters guessing at their pitches in the first and second games. In all three games, the Rays offense had a lot of trouble getting good at bats against the Red Sox starters, and for the most part, they hit into easy groundball or flyball outs. The Rays are currently 25-17, 2nd in the standings, and 1 game back from the Red Sox after this series.

 

The Rays will also lose their 2B Kelly Johnson for now, when Johnson injured his leg while running the bases. The diagnosis isn't known yet, so no roster decision has been made yet so far.

[alexf388 10]

Alex Ferguson

 

 

The Rays are on the road once again, and will face the Orioles in a 3-game series, starting today. The Orioles are currently 14-26, 12 games back from the Red Sox, and are last in the AL East. The Orioles are still having trouble pitching and hitting consistently at any level. The team has a batting average of just .253 (9th in the league) and an OBP of .305 (12th in the league), but has hit a total of 58 homeruns (2nd). In other words, the lineup is impatient at the plate and looking to swing and hit the ball out of the park every time they go up to the plate. Though there are a few bright spots in the lineup, including OF Adam Jones (currently hitting .287/.332/.580) and rookie 3B Manny Machado (.329/.358/.474 so far this season), the rest of the batting order is a rather sorry sight. The same thing could be said of their pitching: besides SP Chris Tillman (3.47 ERA in 6 starts) and SP Miguel Gonzalez (3.14 ERA in 9 starts), the other pitchers have been terrible: the current starters' ERA is 4.75, and the bullpen ERA is 4.70. The Orioles Park at Camden Yards is a hitter's park, where the majority of the Orioles' homeruns have occurred. As a result, the team's home record is a pedestrian 11-9, compared to their atrocious road record of 4-19. The Orioles are clearly lacking in most offensive and pitching categories compared to the Rays, but obviously for the Rays to do well here, the pitchers have to keep the ball low in the zone and prevent home runs from which the Orioles will benefit most from.

 

 

Game 43: Baltimore Orioles (15-26) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (25-18) - May 17th, 2013

Although Matt Moore was our projected starter for this game, it turns out that he was sick and not feeling well enough to pitch this game. This forced Maddon to start Alex Cobb this game on short rest and notice, and the result: 3 earned runs on 6 hits in 6.2 innings. Opposing pitcher Miguel Gonzalez pitched considerably better than the tired Alex Cobb today, going 8.0 innings and allowed just 2 earned runs on 4 hits (including a 2-run homerun by Zobrist in the 1st inning), while striking out 7 and walking 1. Even though Cobb was credited with the loss, Joel Peralta, who came substituted in for Cobb in the 7th inning, was the pitcher who sealed the loss for us, as he allowed 3 earned runs (a 3-run homerun by Baltimore's 2B Jonathan Schoop) to score in 1.0 innings. Besides Ben Zobrist, the Rays could not garner any offensive support for Cobb today.

 

 

Game 44: Baltimore Orioles (15-27) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (26-18) - May 18th, 2013

Matt Moore started in today's game after missing out on yesterday's game, and did reasonably well, going 8.0 innings and allowing 4 earned runs to score, while striking out 7 and walking 2. Overall, Moore did a good job in keeping the ball low in the zone, and prevented the Orioles making solid contact and driving the ball out of the park. The Rays batters hit the Orioles pitchers hard today, with several players getting many hits, including Zobrist (who hit a 3-run homerun in the top of the 7th inning), DH Luke Scott (who hit a solo homerun in the 3rd inning), CF Desmond Jennings (who went 3 for 5, including a solo homerun in the 5th inning), and LF Matt Joyce (who went 2 for 4 and hit a solo homerun in the 6th inning). For his 2 for 5 performance, including his 3-run homerun, Zobrist would be named Player of the Game.

 

 

Game 45: Baltimore Orioles (15-28) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (27-18) - May 19th, 2013

The Orioles pitchers were hit hard once again in this game. Opposing starter Chris Tillman was driven out just after 2.1 innings, where he allowed 5 earned runs to score, including a 3-run homerun by Ryan Roberts in the 3rd inning and a solo homerun by Matt Joyce in the 2nd inning. The Orioles bullpen offered no relief against the relentless Rays offense for the rest of the game, which eventually culminated into a 12-3 rout against the Orioles. Rays starter Jeff Niemann provided an excellent start this game, going 8.0 innings and allowing 3 earned runs on 8 hits in the process, while striking out 6 and walking 2 throughout the game. Ryan Roberts was later named Player of the Game for crushing 3-run homerun.

 

 

Series Summary:

The Rays managed to take two games of the three-game series. Overall, the Tampa Bay Rays pitching did a good job of limiting runs by preventing the Orioles from hitting homeruns in their home-run friendly park. Although the Rays offense was mostly quiet in the 1st game, they did significantly better than their Orioles counterparts in taking advantage of the hitter-friendly park. The Rays are still 2nd in the standings, 1 game back from the Boston Red Sox with a record of 27-18.

[alexf388 10]

Alex Ferguson

 

Our next three-game road series will be against the Toronto Blue Jays, who are currently going 21-23 so far and 4th in the standings. The Blue Jays are still suffering from a slew of old and recently new injuries to their core members, including Jose Reyes (who won't return until 3 months later), Josh Johnson (out for another month), and recently injured Colby Rasmus (out for 2 weeks) and Jose Bautista (1 week left). In terms of team rankings, the team still suffers from poor pitching, especially their relief pitching which ranks dead last in the AL with an ERA of 5.55. The one thing the Blue Jays did improve was their offense, they are now slightly above average with a team batting average of .263 (6th in the league), an OBP of .321 (6th in the league), and a total of 54 home runs (3rd in the league). Despite the injuries to Colby Rasmus and Jose Bautista, both who are important pieces in the offensive lineup, the roster is still filled with offensively potent players, including 1B Edwin Encarnacion (.257/.343/.520) and Brett Lawrie (.291/.333/.582). The ballpark of the Toronto Blue Jays, Rogers Centre, is a hitter-friendly ballpark mostly because of its turf surface, which allows a significant larger number of ground ball hits to go through. Although it's still good practice for our pitchers to pitch for groundball outs, defence will be important into turning those groundballs into outs instead of hits. In terms of defence, the Rays have an advantage here, as they currently have a .699 defensive efficiency compared to the Jays' .684 defensive efficiency.

 

 

Kelly Johnson has been diagnosed with a lat strain - May 20th, 2013

Team trainer Stan Conte informed me that Kelly Johnson was diagnosed with a lat strain, which would sideline him for at least 2 weeks. It was decided to put Kelly Johnson on the 15-day DL. Of course, this would leave a spot in the roster and a hole at second base.

 

 

Purchased the contract of Wil Myers from Triple-A Durham - May 20th, 2013

Kelly Johnson's 2-week injury has left me little choice but to promote Wil Myers to the majors. Although Brandon Guyer, who was recently demoted to Triple-A following Zobrist's return from the DL, I decided not to considering his poor performance in Triple-A (250/.259/.404). This suggested his hitting performance the first month of April was nothing more than plain luck. On the other hand, Wil Myers continued to provide good batting numbers in Triple-A this year. He even improved his numbers from last year: .335/.448/.623. Myers improved his plate discipline significantly, and managed to earn the same number of walks and strikeouts at Triple-A Durham this year. The improved eye and plate discipline allowed him to hit the better pitches harder, resulting in a noticeable increase in his slugging percentage as well. Although defensively he isn't as good as we hoped him to be, his offensive prowess and ability to produce runs will compensate for his average defense. For now, Ben Zobrist has been named the starting second baseman, while Myers will be the Rays starting right fielder.

 

 

Game 46: Toronto Blue Jays (21-24) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (28-18) - May 20th, 2013

David Price was hammered early by the Blue Jays offense today, and managed to pitch just 1.0 innings of work, allowing 5 earned runs including a grand slam by Adam Lind. However, the Rays hitters would make strike back in the 2nd and 3rd innings, scoring 7 runs against the hapless Toronto starter J.A. Happ. For the rest of the game, the Rays bullpen held firm, allowing just one more earned run for the rest of the game. The Blue Jays bullpen could not do the same against the incessant Rays offense, however, and allowed another 5 runs to score, including a 2-run homerun by Desmond Jennings in the 5th inning. Catcher Jose Molina hit 3 doubles today, which garnered him 4 RBI this game; for this performance, Molina would earn Player of the Game honours. In his first MLB game, Wil Myers went 1 for 4, getting his first hit with a single, and also went on to score a run for the Rays.

 

 

Game 47: Toronto Blue Jays (21-25) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (29-18) - May 21st, 2013

Compared to yesterday's free-for-all hit game, today's game was much quieter in terms of offense. Rays starter Jeremy Hellickson would face off against Toronto's starter Ricky Romero. Hellickson would win on this occasion, and allowed just 1 earned run in 8.0 innings of work, while striking out 7 and walking 2. After the game, Hellickson was accorded Player of the Game honours. Romero, on the other hand, would allow 4 earned runs in 6.0 innings, including a 2-run homerun by Desmond Jennings and a solo homerun by Jose Molina. The Rays offense was finally silenced for the rest of the game when the Toronto bullpen took over, but the damage was already done.

 

 

Game 48: Toronto Blue Jays (21-26) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (30-18) - May 22nd, 2013

Matt Moore faced off against the Toronto hitters today, and pitched an impressive 8.0 inning performance, allowing 1 earned run while striking out 9 batters and walking 3. The Rays lineup, which was quiet yesterday, came back to life today and mauled Toronto's Mark Buehrle, scoring 5 runs against the veteran starter until he was taken out in the third inning. The Toronto bullpen allowed another 4 earned runs until they finally managed to stop the bleeding by the last two innings of the game. Although there were exceptional hitting performances today by many players, including Desmond Jennings, Jose Molina, and Ben Zobrist, the Player of the Game award would go to Matt Moore for his dominating start.

 

 

Series summary:

The Rays would sweep the Blue Jays in this 3-game series. The Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher, for the most part, did a good job against the Toronto hitters despite pitching in a hitter-friendly park. On the other hand, the Rays hitters exploited the weakened Toronto pitching to the full in the first and third game, allowing the Rays to win those two games with ease. The Rays are now 30-18 and are now first in the AL East division, and are 1 game ahead of the Boston Red Sox.

In other news, Kelly Johnson was placed on the DL for a 2-week stint. In place of Johnson, Ben Zobrist was moved to second base, while Wil Myers was called up from Triple-A to be the Rays starting right fielder.

[alexf388 10]

Alex Ferguson

 

The Rays will return back home to face the New York Yankees. The Yankees are now 25-22, 3rd in the AL East division, and 5.5 games back from the first place Rays. Since our last game with the Yankees, the team from the Bronx are still doing a decent job offensively, considering they are still missing key team players such as 3B Alex Rodriguez and 1B Mark Texeira. The return of SS Derek Jeter and CF Curtis Granderson hasn't helped much though, as both Jeter and Granderson are hitting .295/.303/.352 and .167/.167/.167 respectively since coming back from the DL. Meanwhile, the Yankees starting rotation continues to suffer mightily, either from their hitter-friendly confines or from their lack of a good defense (the Yankees have a defensive efficiency of .678, good for 13th in the league). With the Yankees playing on our home turf this series, the Yankees pitching will probably pitch a lot better this series than if they played at home. Nevertheless, the Rays do feature a better starting rotation, bullpen, and overall defense compared to the Yankees.

 

 

Game 49: Tampa Bay Rays (31-18) vs. New York Yankees (25-23) - May 24th, 2013

Alex Cobb would face off against Andy Pettitte today. Cobb pitched a solid game today, allowing 4 earned runs in 7.0 innings of work on 10 hits, including two back to back solo homeruns by DH Travis Hafner and 1B Lyle Overbay. Pettitte was driven out after 4.0 innings, when he allowed 6 earned runs to score, including a three-run home run by Jose Molina, and a two-run homerun by Ryan Roberts. The Yankees bullpen silenced the Rays offense for the rest of the game, but the 6 runs scored by the Rays would be more than enough to win the game.

 

 

 

Game 50: Tampa Bay Rays (32-18) vs. New York Yankees (25-24) - May 25th, 2013

New York's ace C.C. Sabathia would face off against Rays ace David Price. Both pitchers pitched well: Sabathia went 7.0 innings and allowed 3 earned runs to score on 7 hits, while striking out 6 and walking 2. David Price would be the better pitcher, allowing just 1 earned run on 5 hits in 8.0 innings (a solo homerun by DH Travis Hafner) while striking out 4 and walking 1. For his pitching performance this game, Price would be named Player of the Game.

 

 

Game 51: Tampa Bay Rays (33-18) vs. New York Yankees (25-25) - May 26th, 2013

Jeff Niemann faced off today against Phil Hughes in today's game. Both pitchers pitched excellent today, with Phil Hughes pitching a complete game against the Rays hitters, but allowed 2 earned runs in the process. Our defense made the different here today, as the Rays infield completed three double plays (despite one error on James Loney) while the Yankees could only do one. This allowed Niemann to pitch 8.0 innings of work, and allowed 5 hits and no earned runs in the process. Niemann would go on to earn Player of the Game honours for today's performance.

 

 

 

Series Summary:

The Rays would sweep the Yankees, and are now on a 7-game winning streak. Although the Rays lineup was inhibited in this series compared to the last series with the Blue Jays, the Rays starting pitching remained excellent against opposing batters, and with help from the Rays defense, the starters were crucial components in the sweep against the Yankees. The Rays are now 33-18, 1st in the AL East. The 2nd place Boston Red Sox are 2.5 games back from the Rays.

[alexf388 10]

Alex Ferguson

 

The Tampa Bay Rays will play the Marlins at Tropicana Field for the first two games, and then move over to nearby Marlins Park for their last two games. This interleague series is known as the Citrus series, though there isn't really a serious rivalry between the two teams. The Miami Marlins are suffering what the Rays suffered many, many years ago: bad ownership. Jeffrey Loria, current owner of the Miami Marlins, is quickly filling the title of baseball's most hated owner since Vince Naimoli of the Devil Rays. Throughout his tenure as the owner of the Marlins, he forced the franchise to trade its impact players for prospects, bullied the public into building the privately owned Marlins park with taxpayer money, and is virtually uninterested in taking the Marlins to the championships. Expectations of the Marlins are not high this year, as the Marlins traded key players on their 2012 team, including Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle, Jose Reyes, Emilio Bonfiacio and John Buck to the Toronto Blue Jays in a blockbuster firesale. The Marlins are currently 24-26, 4th in their league, and 6 games back from the division-leading Phillies. The Marlins are struggling offensively as a team: although they have a .261 batting average (good for 2nd in the NL standings), they have a .308 OBP (9th in the NL) and a .377 SLG (10th in the NL). At the moment, the only bright spot in the Miami lineup is RF Giancarlo Stanton, who has so far hit .247/.322/.522 this year, a regression from previous years. On the mound, the Marlins have a young but extremely capable rotation, with pitchers like Nathan Eovaldi, Jose Fernandez, and Henderson Alvarez expected to be Marlins starters for years to come. The combined ERA of the aforementioned top three starters is a very respectable 3.01. Nevertheless, compared to the NL league, the Miami Marlins only have a starting ERA of 3.87 and a bullpen ERA of 4.25. Overall, the Rays lineup is offensively and defensively better than the Marlins lineup, although the batters may face difficulty against the likes of starters Eovaldi, Fernandez, and Alvarez.

 

 

 

Game 52: Miami Marlins (24-27) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (34-18) - May 27th, 2013

Jeremy Hellickson faces Marlins ace Nathan Eovaldi in the first game of the Citrus series. Hellickson and Eovaldi dueled with each other throughout most of the game, and although Eovaldi came out the better starter (8.0 IP, 2 ER, 10H 4 KK, 0 BB) the Marlins closer Steve Cishek would blow the save: with two outs and Matt Joyce at 2nd, Wil Myers hit a line drive, walk-off homerun to left field to win the game for the Rays. It was Myers' first homerun of his MLB career, and it was definitely a memorable one at that. Hellickson did a decent job as well, allowing 3 runs in 7.0 innings (including a solo homerun by Giancarlo Stanton), while striking out 9 and walking 1.

 

 

 

Game 53: Miami Marlins (24-28) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (35-18) - May 28th, 2013

Rays no. 2 starter Matt Moore would face against Marlins no. 2 starter Henderson Alvarez. Unlike yesterday, Moore was the clear victor in today's game: he pitched 7.0 innings, allowed no earned runs, 4 hits, and struck out 10 batters and walked just one. Alvarez was forced out after just 2.2 innings, after he had allowed 7 earned runs to score in the third inning, including a three-run homerun by 2B Ben Zobrist. The Marlins bullpen managed to close the Rays offense down after the 5th inning, but not before allowing another 2 runs to score. The Marlins offense managed to score one earned run against Joel Peralta in the last inning (a solo shot by 2B Matt Downs), but otherwise, it was a very silent game for the Marlins offense. For his outstanding start today, Matt Moore would be named Player of the Game.

 

 

 

Game 54: Tampa Bay Rays (35-19) vs. Miami Marlins (25-28) - May 29th, 2013

The Rays are now in the Marlins Ballpark for the remainder of this series. Rays no.3 starter Alex Cobb faced against Marlins no.3 starter Jose Fernandez. Cobb was taken out after allowing 3 earned runs in 5.5 innings on 5 hits, while managing to strike out 3 and walking 4. Rays MR Cesar Ramos and Roberto Hernandez would allow another 4 earned runs to score in the eighth inning, allowing the Marlins to win this game with relative ease. Jose Fernandez pitched an excellent game today, and went 8.0 innings whilst allowing just 1 earned run (a solo homerun by Luke Scott). Following today's loss, the Marlins broke the Rays 10-game winning streak that began May 18th, 2013.

 

 

 

Game 55: Tampa Bay Rays (36-19) vs. Miami Marlins (25-29) - May 29th, 2013

Niemann started in the final game against the Marlins in this series. He allowed just two earned runs (including a solo homerun by Giancarlo Stanton) in 7.0 innings. Niemann struck out 4 batters and walked 1 during his start. The rest of the Rays bullpen had no problem stopping the Marlins offense cold in today's close game. SS Yunel Escobar had a good game today, going 3 for 4 including two doubles. For his pitching performance today, Niemann was named Player of the Game.

 

 

Series Summary:

The Rays won three games of the four-game series against the Miami Marlins. The Rays starting pitching, for the most part, continued its impressive performance against the offensive deficient Marlins. As predicted, the Rays offense struggled against the likes of Marlins starters Eovaldi and Fernandez, though our starting pitching was good enough to make up for the lack of runs scored. The Rays are now 37-19, good for 1st in the AL East. The Red Sox have fallen back to 32-25 5.5 games back from the Rays.

[alexf388 10]

Alex Ferguson

The next team the Rays will face on the road will be against the Cleveland Indians. The Indians are currently 24-30, 3rd in the AL Central Division, and 8.5 games back from the first-place division rivals the Detroit Tigers. The Indians are average offensively so far, with the team hitting .252 (8th in the league) and having an OBP of .331 (6th in the league) and scoring 274 runs (6th). So far the Indians offense is being led by 2B Jason Kipnis and SS Asrdrubal Cabrera. Their bullpen is above average, and have managed a 3.11 ERA so far this season thanks to their setup men Cody Allen and Vinnie Pestano, and also their closer Chris Perez. The only significant problem the Indians have is with their starting rotation, which has pitched a terrible ERA of 4.92. Their only starter who has an ERA of above 4.00 is Carlos Zambrano, who has pitched an ERA of 3.62 in 7 starts so far. Progressive Field is overall a pitcher's park overall, so the Rays starting pitchers should probably have no problem against the Indians hitters, while the reverse might not be true for the Indians pitchers.

 

 

Game 56: Tampa Bay Rays (37-19) vs. Cleveland Indians (24-31) - May 31st, 2013

The series opener starts with the Rays hitters hammering away at the Indians ace Ubaldo Jimenez. Jimenez allowed 5 earned runs to score in 5.1 innings, including a two-run homerun by DH Luke Scott. Price went 8.0 innings and allowed just 1 earned run, though he had trouble at certain times, as he allowed 6 hits and 4 walks while striking out just 2. The Indians bullpen took over for Jimenez in the 6th inning, and allowed no more runs to score after that. For his pitching performance today, David Price was awarded Player of the Game honours.

 

 

Game 57: Tampa Bay Rays (37-20) vs. Cleveland Indians (25-31) - June 1st, 2013

The Indians struck back in today's game, scoring 8 runs in 3 innings against Rays starter Jeremy Hellickson. Hellickson was taken out in the 4th inning, after he had allowed a grand slam home run by 3B Lonnie Chisenhall. Roberto Hernandez and Pat Egan would allow another 3 runs to score in the 7th inning before the game's end. Indians starter Carlos Zambrano did an excellent job stopping the Rays offense cold today, as he went 7.1 innings and allowed just 1 earned run to score on 4 hits, although one more run would score on 1B Mark Reynolds' error.

 

 

Game 58: Tampa Bay Rays (38-20) vs. Cleveland Indians (25-32) - June 2nd, 2013

Rays starter Matt Moore pitched another excellent game today. He pitched 7.1 innings, and allowed just 1 earned run on 3 hits. He also managed to strike out 10 batters, and walked just 3. Indians starter Zach McAllister also did a good job today against the Rays hitters, going 7.0 innings and allowing 2 runs to score in that duration, but it was not good enough to win the game. For his outstanding pitching performance in today's game, Moore would be named Player of the Game.

 

 

Series Summary:

The Rays would win two games out of this three-game series against Cleveland. The Rays pitching was once again (for the most part) crucial in the series win against the Indians. The Rays offense could not take advantage of the Indians' worse starters despite their worse performance against other teams this year, with the exception of Ubaldo Jimenez in the first game. By the time the Indians bullpen came on, the Rays offense was stopped cold in all of the games played in this series. The Rays are now 38-20, 1st in the AL East Division. The Boston Red Sox are 4.5 games back from the first place Rays.