Recap: Tampa Bay Rays vs. Florida Marlins

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Recap: Marlins Series

1) First, James Shield is quite possibly Superman himself. James continued his impressive 2011 season with his second consecutive complete game. Sunday, Shields dominated the Marlins by only allowing 1 run on 4 hits. Shields has rebounded quite well from a lackluster 2010 season. He is without a doubt the Rays ace this year.

2) Not to take away from Shield’s performance but the Marlins morale was most likely at an all time low on Sunday. Marlins Manager Edwin Rodriguez unexpectedly resigned prior to Sunday’s game. The Marlins currently have a record of 1-18 in the month of June.

3) Casey Kotchman has been on fire of late. Kotchman went 2-3 in Sunday’s game and could be a player of the month candidate. In June, Kotchman is hitting .309 and in the last seven days Kotchman has hit. 364. The St. Petersburg native seems to have found a groove. "When it rains, it pours," Choate said. "You can use every cliche in the book. I felt I had him beat. They get paid to hit, like I get paid to pitch. Somehow he kept it inside the line. I'm not even quite sure how, because if I put it any more inside, it would have hit him.

4) Alex Cobb impressed again with six innings work allowing only 1 run. Cobb now has a 2-0 record with a 2.55 ERA. Neimann is back on the 25 man roster but can he get it going? If not we know that Cobb is a more than capable replacement.

5) Tampa handled the Marlins with relative ease sweeping the “OTHER” Florida team. Tampa’s bats were sporadic throughout the series but the pitching was lights out as always.

Tampa Bay Rays Recap 6/8/2011

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WP: J Cruz (3-0)
LP: F Rodney (2-3)
SV: K Farnsworth (13)

The Rays should file for trademark rights on the phrase “Manufacturing the Win.” The team has become synonymous with winning via small ball and last night’s series clinching sweep was no different.

The powerless Brignac got the Rays' offense started in the 3rd with his first homer of the season. It was the 10th homer in 524 career at-bats for the Rays' No. 9 hitter, and his first since Sept. 18 2010. Tampa decided to get back to the basics and manufactured runs in both the 7th and 8th inning via clutch hits from Ruggiano and Zobrist. Justin drove in the Rays' second run with a two-out RBI double. In the 8th, Ben’s bomb was five feet short of clearing the Angles high right field fence but still managed to score a hustling Damon. It also managed to infuriate Weaver as he threw his glove to the ground after hearing the crack of Ben connecting with his weak sauce (aka 121st pitch).

Tampa was well on it’s way to sweeping the Angels (in Anaheim) with James Shields carrying a six hit shutout into the 8th inning. Then the game got interesting.
James let all three batters he faced in the 8th reach base which resulted in Maddon involving the bullpen. Ramos threw two pitches. Not three. Not four. Two pitches and promptly gave up a 3 run double to Bobby Abreu. In an instance Shield lost the win and Jared Weaver was off the hook for a very mediocre outing.

Great pitching in the ninth led the game to extra innings where Rays manager Joe Maddon started his magic by using two pinch hitters. Jaso pinch hit for Rodriguez and reached based via a walk and the flu-ridden Longoria reached on an infield hit past the mound. Next the bomber known as Brignac came to the plate. Jaso took off for third base and recorded his first stolen base of the year. Brignac followed with a perfect bunt and BAM!!!! Manufactured run.

Pinch Hit + Walk + Stolen Base + Squeeze Play = Trademark Rays Manufactured Run.

In the bottom of the 10th Bobby Abreu made another attempt at salvaging the game for the Angels. He slammed Farnsworths pitch to deep center where Upton made a outstanding defensive grab by jumping up and making the catch while hitting the wall. It wasn’t Griffey material but it got the job done.

"I didn't think it would carry that far," Upton said. "We were in a `no-doubles' situation out there. I kind of felt the warning track but I didn't know exactly where the wall was. So I just had to jump a little bit for it and came down against the wall."

The Rays swept a three-game series on the road for the third time this season and also gained another game on the Yankees in the AL East. Next up Friday June 10, 2011@ Baltimore Orioles.