The GBT - The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe.
Mariners 7, RAYS 6, 10 innings (boxscore)
THE GOOD: Jake Elmore was called back up and made the most of his first game back with a pair of 2-out singles, one driving in a pair, and the other driving in one, in the first 3 innings. He then added an RBI-ground out in the 9th inning that tied the game…Alex Colome was brutal in the first inning, needing 38 pitches to get through the inning. But he settled down and kept the Rays in the game, giving up just 2 hits in the next 4.1 innings. He has now allowed 2 earned runs or fewer in 9 of 12 career starts…Said it after one of his first games, Joey Butler has a big league bat. He had 3 more hits on Tuesday and is now 19-57 (.333) with 4 doubles and a pair of home runs. If there is a red flag it is the 16 strikeouts and just 2 walks and we already know he is not a .333 hitter. But he is also a guy that looks like he should be in the big leagues and can contribute on a regular basis.
THE BAD: Considering how many things the Rays did wrong and how many breaks went against the Rays, it’s amazing they made it to extra innings at all. There was the umpiring. The blown call and blown replay at the plate in the first that cost the Rays a run. There was the replay review in the 7th in which Evan Longoria’s fly ball down the left field line was fair TWICE (it hit the left fielder’s glove and landed on the line) and the ump missed both. The replay overturned the call, but Joey Butler was only allowed to advance from first to third even though, the ball was bouncing away from a fielder who was laying on the ground and umps could have ruled he would have scored. There were defensive miscues topped by the error by Nick Franklin in the 8th inning. What should have been a double-play turned into a bases-loading error when it looked like Franklin got fooled by the dancing umpire trying to avoid the ball. The next batter hit a grand slam…Hard to slam Jake McGee and Brad Boxberger too much, but they both failed on Tuesday night, giving up home runs. Prior to last night, the pair had pitched 77.1 combined innings since the 2014 All-Star break and had giving up a total of 5 home runs between the two…But the worst moment last night came on something “good.” Evan Longoria’s double in the 9th was about 2 inches away from being a walk-off gran slam.
THE TELLING: Grant Balfour opted out of his contract at triple-A and has been released by the Rays…Matt Moore pitched in an extended Spring Training game and allowed 2 runs on 5 hits in 2 innings. Moore could start a 3-week rehab assignment as early as next week…The Rays have committed 6 errors during their 4-game losing streak after committing just 15 in their first 43 games…Steven Souza (sprained wrist) may not return to the lineup until Friday…Evan Longoria is the only member of the Rays among the leaders in the first release of All-Star voting, ranking 3rd, with about half the votes of Josh Donaldson of the A’s…James Loney went back on the DL with a broken finger and recalled Tim Beckham. Loney is expected to be out 4-6 weeks…Hak-Ju Lee went on the DL at triple-A after needing stitches following a play at second base…The Rays have fallen out of first place, a half-game behind the Yankees. The entire AL East is separated by just 3.0 games.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Kevin Cash called the umpiring “embarrassing.” [TampaBay.com]
- David DeJesus worked out at first base as a potential short-term option with James Loney on the DL. The biggest adjustment? “It’ll be weird to wear a cup again.” [TampaBay.com]
- Have Lightning playoff game impacted Rays’ attendance? Yes. A lot? No. To make that argument requires one to completely ignore that attendance was already trending down. But this column makes it sound like playoff hockey games are completely to blame for Rays’ attendance even though only 5 of 9 games going head-to-head with Lightning playoff games have had below average attendance. In other words, 4 of 9 have been above average. [TampaBay.com]
- The Rays are still in Fox Sports’ MLB power ranking top-10 with a 48% chance of making the playoffs. [FoxSports.com]
- Rocco Baldelli is still not sure what ended his baseball playing career. [Vice.com]
- On Willy Adames: “He was even better than I had thought.” [MiLB.com]
- Reminder: Devil Rays are still infinitely cooler than Rays of sunshine. [Business Insider]
- DOWN ON THE FARM [boxscores] Dylan Floro allowed just 1 run over 7 innings in Durham’s 2-1 win. He struck out 7, walked 1, and his ERA is now 3.54. Corey Brown’s home run was the difference-make in the 7th (see video below)…Daniel Robertson was 2-6 with 2 RBI and Justin O’Conner went 3-5 in Montgomery’s 14-1 win…Chris Kirsch tossed 6 shutout innings, striking out 5 and walking none in Charlotte’s 7-3 win. Jake Bauers hit his 5th home run. 2B Kean Wong stole his 11th base…Casey Gillaspie went 3-4 with a double-and an RBI in Bowling Green’s win.
Hit the bull, win a steak. It never gets old.
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9 Comments
A horrible game to watch, although some may say it was exciting. The middle infield "defense" lost the game. The two runs taken away by the umpires contributed. They can't afford to keep putting either of Beckham/Franklin in the middle. They are not capable of playing big-league defense. The problem is with Loney hurt, Forsythe is going to play 1st base most of the time instead of second. Glad I'm not Cash.
Matt Moore back June 22nd! Not sure who they are playing but glad he is back!
Looney back around the same time..need to get Jennings and Jaso back soon!
My assumption is that Loney won't be ready until July.
ok
"Evan Longoria is the only member of the Rays among the leaders in the first release of All-Star voting, ranking 3rd, with about half the votes of Josh Donaldson of the A’s"
I think you may be looking at an old source for this information. TBT and TBO were reporting no Rays in top 5 at any position and Donaldson plays for Toronto now. Just giving you a heads up, love your work so keep it coming!
Donaldson plays for Toronto, and it was Jake's second game back
Between the Beckham HR that wasn't and now Longo's walk-off that wasn't, I think the Rays need to make sure that top tube of the railing disappears during the offseason.
It was originally not part of the Trop design. It was added in year 1 I think to help keep fans from interfering with play, but I agree it should be taken down now that scoring is so low and the Trop plays as such a pitcher's park.