The GBT - The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe.
RAYS 10, Astros 4 (boxscore)
THE GOOD: Matt Duffy has been good in his first two weeks with the Rays. In 14 games, he has 17 hits and 2 walks. And on Sunday he hit his first home run with the Rays, a 2-run shot in the 8th inning that turned a 1-run game into a 3-run game. Corey Dickerson added insult to injury with a 3-run home run later in the inning. It was the third home run of the game for the Rays. It was the 20th game this year in which the Rays have hit at least 3 home runs. Only 6 teams have more such games. It was also the 10th game this year in which they have scored at least 10 runs. That is tied for 12th among all teams.
THE BAD: The bullpen had a rough weekend. Kevin Jepsen hasn’t done much recently to inspire confidence in why he was brought back to the Rays. On Friday, he gave up 2 hits and walked 3 batters (1 intentionally) in 1 inning. Thanks to a well-timed double-play, he only allowed 1 run in the inning. But in his last 6 appearances (6 innings) he has given up 8 hits, 4 walks, and 4 runs, including 2 home runs. But hey, I guess somebody needs to be the down-5-2-guy. On the other hand, there is Alex Colome. He has been strong most of the season, but when things go bad, they go really bad. On Saturday, he came into the 9th inning with a 1-run lead. He gave up a game-tying home run to Carlos Correa on the first pitch. Then he gave up a walk-off home run to Evan Gattis on a 3-2 pitch. I have said it a million times, once a closer blows a lead, get him out. There is something mentally draining for a closer when the lead is gone. They lose focus. And maybe Colome blew the lead too quickly and Kevin Cash didn’t have anybody ready, but in a 1-run game in the final innings, why wouldn’t you always have at least one reliever warming up just in case. It had been almost exactly one month since Colome blew a save. In that outing, he also gave up 2 home runs, including a walk-off home run after he had already blown the lead.
THE TELLING: Alex Cobb will be activated today now that his rehab stint has expired and is expected to make his first start next weekend…Desmond Jennings was officially released on Saturday. Mikie Mahtook was demoted to make room for reliever Steve Geltz on Saturday. Geltz will now be sent back to Durham to make room for Cobb. I’d expect to see both back in 10 days after the rosters expand.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- The Rays suck at the fundamentals, but apparently Kevin Cash’s job is still not on the line. [TampaBay.com]
- If you are into random rankings, somebody ranked all the names of MLB stadiums. The Trop is tied for 17th. [NBC Sports]
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4 Comments
I'm not a Cash defender, but Friday night Colome blew the lead on a HR by the first batter (on his first pitch I believe). So is Cash supposed to have a contingent reliever warming up when his closer is coming on? Watching all of those Olympic sports has Cork in delusion land!
He lost the game on the second batter he faced. Nothing Cash could do there. Sometimes your closer just lights himself on fire and you lose.
Almost time for some hot stove league talk about the Rays. Over the weekend Longo said he liked the core players without naming names. Also said that with some key pickups we could return to contention. That's a pretty bold statement.
I'll throw out my core group of non pitchers: current group of infielders, KK, Maile, Dickerson, Franklin...leaving 4-5 slots depending on 12/13 Pitchers.
Pressing needs: 2 corner OF's, LH hitting vet type catcher, a cheap vet bat (Pearce?).
Pitchers? Way too early to tell, 2 bullpen arms would be nice.
Not to mention, it's not like he gave Gattis a good pitch. I'm still not sure how he hit that ball out of the park.
It was the highest pitch to be hit for a homer all season. Sometimes the other guys get you.