Tampa Bay Rays Sweep Red Sox; Gaining Momentum for the 2009 AL East CHASE!

It's official, the bandwagon is leaving the station, so hop on. After a number of scorching articles from the local rags (see below), the Tampa Bay sports writers seem to be jumping back on the Rays bandwagon. Today, after the Rays finished a 2-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox, Joe Henderson of the Tampa Tribune writes that the "Sweep Puts the Rays Right Back in the Race" and Gary Shelton from the St. Pete Times writes that "It's Official: Tampa Bay Rays Are a Playoff Contender."

Of course, as recently as July 28, 2009, Gary wrote that "By now, however, this has happened too many times to believe the Rays will simply wake up one day and snap out of it." He was talking about the need for the Rays to cash in their deep farm talent pool for someone like Halladay or Lee because the Rays don't have what it takes. And, on July 30, 2009, Martin Fennelly of the Tampa Tribune wrote that Rays May Not Have Answers and said such silly things as: "[The Rays] won't see [the Yankees] again until September in New York, and by that point they might need binoculars to spot them"; "But it's also hard to believe that the current crew will emerge from its slumber for a true September run"; and "Wednesday [July 29, 2009], you could almost hear a playoff race disappear."

So I get that these guys are trying to sell newspapers and all that, but I also understand that they've never really been through a AL East Pennant CHASE either. So, I'll cut them a little bit of slack just this once.

Last night was a big night for the Rays. First and foremost, the Rays took care of their business by winning the second of a 2-game mini series against the Red Sox. This brings the Rays to within 3.0 games in the Wild Card race and gives the Rays an 8-4 head-to-head record against the Red Sox (this could be important if the Wild Card or AL East Pennant comes down to a tie breaker). In addition, with the Texas Rangers loss to the Oakland A's, the Rays have now drawn even with the Rangers in the Wild Card Race. For our friendly local sports writers, take note of how quickly things can change in baseball (Rays gained 2 games int he Wild Card on each of the Red Sox and Rangers in just 2 short days).

However, as I wrote in an earlier post, this is only the beginning of a very important week of baseball for the Rays. The Rays depart for a tough 6-game West Coast road trip where the Rays will meet the Seattle Mariners and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (that's a mouthful). The good news is that the Rays appear to be catching a break as it relates to pitching matchups. While the Rays will face the Mariners' Ace on Friday, they will miss two of the Mariners young lefties and they will avoid the LA Angels two best pitchers (Jared Weaver; 11-3 and 3.79 ERA and LAA Ace John Lackey; 7-4 and 3.96 ERA).

Perhaps more importantly, some of the key players on the Rays are showing some signs of life. Carlos Pena hit a giant home run last night (on a full count), but he also worked a great at bat in earning a walk later in the game (again on a full count). If you've watched much Rays baseball, you know that Carlos Pena is hitting best when he's walking often. If he can take yesterday's game and carry that forward, we'll see some good things from Carlos Pena in the coming weeks. Secondly, Pat Burrell has 2 home runs in his last 8 games and looks more comfortable at the plate. It's way to early to suggest that Pat is breaking out of his season long slump, but it's encouraging to see him contribute.

While the Rays have their hands full with a west coast road trip, the Yankees and the Red Sox are going to duke it out in the Bronx for a 4-game set. This is sure to be a taxing series on both team and should provide the Rays with an opportunity to gain some ground (if we take care of our business). Following that series, the Red Sox will face the HOT Detroit Tigers for a 4-game set at home followed by a brief road trip down to Texas. The sum of all this is that the Rays may very well have a huge opportunity to make a move over the next week or so in the AL East (or at least the Wild Card).

Rays fans should stock up on Red Bull as we have a number of late nights ahead of us this coming week.

GAME ON - Rays Fans Experience First Chase for the AL Pennant

Last year, the Tampa Bay Rays spent all of August and September fighting off the Red Sox to maintain their AL East lead. In 2009, the Rays are the ones that are going to have to chase down their AL East rivals. With both the Red Sox and the Yankees fielding very tough teams (and spending big money in the off season), the Rays have their work cut out for them. BUT, is there really anything more exciting than a bona-fide pennant race? I stated from the very beginning that all I ask of the Rays organization is that they find a way to be in the hunt come August and September. Before 2008, the Rays never played a meaningful game past June! So, here we find ourselves...confused (funky ground rules and all)...exhausted...AND EXSTATIC!!!

The Rays finally found a little bit of magic last night and now find themselves in good shape to make a move on the Red Sox. While taking nothing for granted (the Rays will have to grind it out tonight if they want to win), the Rays could get a "walk-off" boost after last night's dramatic 5-hour, 13th inning win. Additionally, the Red Sox bullpen has to be exhuasted after every single pitcher participated in the game and threw a total of 130 pitches including 30 pitches from each of Bard, Ramirez and Saito. The Rays bullpen, in contrast, threw only 80 pitches and should be fully available for tonight's game (especially since they have an off day). To make things even more difficult for the Red Sox, they do not benefit from the off day, but rather head to New York for what will likely be a grueling 4-game series against the Yankees. All of this seems to bode well for the Rays chances of closing the Wild Card gap.

The Rays currently sit 4.0 games behind the Red Sox and 1.0 game behind the Texas Rangers for the Wild Card (and 5.5 back of the Yankees for the AL East lead). Given their current position, the Rays have a lot of work to do, but they still control their own destiny! The Rays have 7 more games against the Red Sox, 6 more games against the Texas Rangers and 7 more games against the New York Yankees. In addition to that, the Rays are finding ways to win even when they aren't hitting on all cylinders.

All of this brings me to the fun and excitement of Rays Fans' first genuine pennant CHASE! Last year was amazing and one to remember forever. But, the table is set for a potentially dramatic race to the finish. If the Rays can hang around the hoop until mid-September, things should be pretty exciting for the Rays. The Rays sport one of the best home records in baseball (and are tied for most home wins in all of MLB at 35) and finish the season with 12 of their last 15 games at Tropicana Field including a 3-game set against the Yankees on October 2nd, 3rd and 4th. Buckle your seatbelts, Rays fans!

HUGE Week of Baseball for the Tampa Bay Rays 2009 Playoff Race

In what could be one of the best opportunities for the Rays to gain some ground in the brutal American League East pennant race, the Rays kick off a 2-game set against the Boston Red Sox. First up will be Matt Garza vs. Jon Lester. On Wednesday, the Rays will throw David Price against Brad Penney. It's goes without saying that a 2-game sweep of the Red Sox would be HUGE. More interestingly, the Red Sox follow-up their "Stop at the Trop" with a 4-game weekend series against the New York Yankees. Given the Red Sox domination of the Yankees to date, this series could offer up big swing in fortunes for the Rays.

In addition, the Yankees face Roy Halladay tonight (against Andy Pettite) and throw Sergio Mitre (who's been TERRIBLE - 7.90 ERA) against 3.25 ERA throwing Marc Rzepczynski (who's been a very big positive surprise for the Blue Jays this year). SOOOOO...as it is always fun to speculate, it's not a stretch at all to see the Rays picking up 2-3 games on each of the Red Sox and the Yankees if they can take care of business tonight and tomorrow night against the Red Sox and follow that up with a winning road trip (4-2 would be a good goal for the SEA and LAA series).

I can't state the importance of the Rays next road trip either. This will be the 3rd to last major road trip of the year (the 11-game Sept 7-17 trip is THE BIG ONE, which includes a double-header at Yankee Stadium, but we'll worry about that one later) and is on the West Coast. The WC trips have notoriously been tough on the Rays, so a 4-2 record on this jaunt would be a big win, in my opinion.

Just for fun, here is how things very well could shake out over the next week: Rays take both games from the Red Sox and the Yankees drop both games to Toronto today and tomorrow (based on pitching matchups and home field advantage, this is a very plausible scenario, in my opinion). That would put the Rays 3.0 and 3.5 games back of the Red Sox and Yankees, respectively, after the next 2 days. If the Rays can take 2 out of 3 against Seattle and either the Yankees or the Red Sox wins their weekend series (I'll assume the Yankees win 3 out of 4 for this example as I believe in regression to the mean in baseball), the Rays would then be 4.0 games back of the Yankees and 1.5 games behind the Red Sox. If the Yankees can sweep Boston (seems unlikely to me, but possible), then the Rays would only be 0.5 games behind the Red Sox. If the Red Sox continue their domination of the Yankees in 2009 and sweep them, then the Rays would find themselves 4.5 games behind the Red Sox and 1.0 games behind the Yankees.

No matter how you slice it, the Rays are VERY MUCH in the playoff hunt if they can win their next 2 series (that's the big assumption in my analysis). Thus, this IS A HUGE WEEK OF BASEBALL FOR THE TAMPA BAY RAYS!!!

Rays Celebrate Their 2009 ALL-STARS with T-Shirts!

Today, the Rays announced that they are going to give away 5 different T-Shirts to the first 10,000 fans wearing Rays gear on the upcoming homestand games against the Yankees and the Red Sox. The shirts will be given away on July 27th, July 28th and July 29th when the New York Yankees are in town (HUGE SERIES!!!) and on August 4th and 5th when the Boston Red Sox are in town. They are giving away a shirt for each of the 5 Rays players that went to the 2009 ALl Star Game (Carl Crawford, Ben Zobrist, Carlos Pena, Evan Longoria and Jason Bartlett). My favorite is the shirt featuring "the Catch" by Carl Crawford. Check them out at Raysbaseball.com.

Rays Sweep the Jays - Akinori Iwamura sighting!

The Rays finished an impressive series against the Blue Jays that included 2 walk-offs and a gut wrenching 3-2 win. I have to tip my hat to the Blue Jays for a gutty series even though they leave empty handed (too bad for them).

BUT, the real story is the resiliency of the 2009 Rays team! They gutted out a huge walk-off win in Game 1, battled relentlessly in Game 2 (despite losing 3, 3-run leads) and carried that into game 3 against arguably the best pitcher in the American League in Roy Halladay. Not to mention that the Rays have now beaten Halladay twice this year.

I'm not going to get into a bunch of details about who pitched really well (Shields and Price) and who did not pitch so well (Kazmir), but I do want to give some props to an improved defense (still some issues there, but seems to be improving) as well as a very solid bullpen (despite Grant Balfour's issues in Game 2 - he made up for it today). Overall, I like the way this team keeps battling back after a rough stretch in Texas. I'm not ready to say that I'm having more fun that I did last year at this time, but I am really starting to have a lot of fun again with this team! I also want to give some props to Pena today for finally breaking through with a clutch double to drive in the 2 winning runs today. I've already voted for "Los" for the ASG and I threw a few more votes in today just for that play.

Finally, Aki was spotted on the field today (see pic below) playing catch and moving around with a knee brace on his leg. It is AMAZING to me that he's already out on the field and will be doing some agility drills with the Rays right after the All-Star break. I am a HUGE Aki fan and can't wait for him to rejoin the clun. Talk about depth when he returns!

Scott Kazmir IS key to 2009 (and he's improving)

A recent game preview article on MLB.com stated that Scott Kazmir "could be" key to the Rays this year. I am willing to take this one step further and state that he IS ABSOLUTELY key to the Rays success in 2009.

In looking at the Rays rotation, Garza and Shields are legitimate "stoppers" and should continue to be strong starters for the remainder of the year. Niemann has been a very pleasant surprise, but it's not a sure thing that he will remain as consistent as he's been (hey, he's a rookie). Price has been anything but consistent girating from one strong start to the next lousy one. IF the Rays are to make it to the playoffs this year and have any success in the playoffs, they need three solid, consistent starters with intermitant strong performances from their #4 and #5 guys. This is why Kazmir is so important. In addition to the fact that Kazmir is one of the highest paid players on the Rays roster $6 million in 2009), which hamstrings the club's ability to pay up for additional pitching, Kazmir has shown that he can still be a dominant pitcher in this league. We already know that Sonnanstine is far from a sure bet. After a very good 2008 season, he's regressed to the point where we really can't count on him. Other options in Triple-A are also far from a sure thing, although one never knows (Wade Davis and Carlos Hernandez are both pitching VERY well for the Bulls).

So, if Kazmir can become a consistent 4.00 ERA starter (or better) and can pitch into or through the 6th inning on a consistent basis, I really like the Rays chances of making a run at the AL East title given their prolific (at least up until lately) offense and strong defense (at least it should be strong, on paper - I tend to think that the offense will moderate a little bit in the second half, but the defense should also revert back to the mean thereby offsetting each other in large part). But, without Kazmir at or better than this level, it's going to be a much more difficult road to hoe because we've seen how streaky the offense can be.

Rays Attendance 2009 (Here We Go Again)

So, with the Phillies in town and the first 2 games of a 3-game series being attended to the tune of 19,000-20,000, the debate about Rays attendance is back on. We've written about this before (click here for our analysis of attendance back in 2008) and will probably write about it again (that's so unfortunate). But, let's also not lose sight of some of the facts that were nicely outlined in an article in today's St. Pete Times):

"Through 34 home games (not including Wednesday's game against the Phillies), attendance at Tropicana Field had increased 23.3 percent from the first 34 games of last season. The spike translates to an extra 4,284 people per game. Only the Kansas City Royals, who completed a $250 million stadium renovation, have seen a higher per-game increase.

At the same time, the rest of baseball is struggling.

Attendance has dropped nearly 5 percent across the sport in 2009. Excluding new smaller stadiums for the New York Mets and New York Yankees, baseball attendance has decreased 3.7 percent.

So while the rest of baseball is trending fewer sales, the Rays are selling more.

To summarize, after posting the largest increase in attendance in all of MLB in 2008, the Rays are near the top in % increase once again in 2009. Yet, management is complaining about the market and the fans.

The biggest issue, in my opinion, is expectations. For one thing, the Rays have only been a good product for 1 season. I am a believer in the new regime and see all of the very positive things they are doing for this team (which is why I am investing in this team as well as a full season tickerholder). I was a little ticked at Matt Silverman's comments the other night and took personal offense to them as a fan and long time member of the Tampa Bay community. But, he did seek to clarify his dumb comments a day later when he said, "I may have said things about the market but not our fans — we love the fans that come to the games." Frankly, I'm still a little offended that he is not backing down from his comments about the Tampa Bay area. As a native, I love this area and I know we have a passionate sports fan base. The fact that he only loves the folks that pay him money does not really cool my jets all that much (but, I digress)....

CONTINUE TO PUT A GOOD AND COMPETITIVE PRODUCT ON THE FIELD AND PEOPLE WILL SPEND THE MONEY TO SEE IT!!!

But, it takes time to build a fan base and dissing on the community is not a helpful tactic. I see lots of kids wearing Rays gear while their parents wear Yankees or Red Sox gear. These kids will drag their parents to some games, but they don't control the purse strings just yet. Rays management needs to be focused on the product and stop venting to the media about attendance and the market. It's obviously not productive to do this (note the DECLINE in attendance from Tuesday to Wednesday).

If the Tampa Bay Bucs can go from the least valuable franchise in the NFL to one of the most valuable franchises in this lovely place I call home, the Rays can climb the franchise value ladder also. But, it takes a bit of time and investment! Continue to invest in this team as you have been and you will see the rewards (including a possible new venue down the line). If you threaten, belittle and otherwise hate on this market, you are going to lose the support of your most loyal fans such as myself (caveat: winning cures a lot of these hard feelings).

Aki back in 6-8 Weeks? BJ Wins AL Player of the Week!

The Rays just finished a decent road trip having split the 6-game trip 3-3. They easily could have taken 4 or even 5 games with a couple of good breaks, but I will take 3-3 given we played the hottest team in baseball (Rockies have won 16 of last 17 games) and a solid Mets team on the road.

In other interesting news, it looks like Akinori Iwamura could be back by mid-August! Doctors originally thought he had a full tear to his ACL, but it turns out that it was only a partial tear AND he only needed to have his knee scoped. This is HUGE news as the Rays believed he was done for the year, yet he may only be out 6 to 8 weeks. Aki is a great player and could be a huge lift to the Rays come September (and hopefully October) if he can get back.

Secondly, BJ Upton has quietly (until today) started hitting the ball! He's hitting a very strong .329 BA with an OBP of .386 in the Month of June. Also in June, BJ has scored 13 runs, hit 6 doubles and 3 home runs, and stolen 11 bases (and that's only through June 21st). It's really nice to see BJ coming around and he is now getting the recognotion for it by taking home the AL Player of the Week for last week. Nice work, BJ!

The Rays are only 2.0 games back of a playoff spot and the team is just now getting Burrell and Bartlett back to full strength! Go Rays!

Welcome, Matt Joyce! (and 9=8.com is now on Twitter)

Welcome to the Bigs, Matt Joyce!!! After a brief stint with the team to begin the season, Matt Joyce has been tearing up AAA since returning to the farm. With the injuries to the Rays, Matt Joyce was called up and is making his case to stay in the Bigs with back-to-back strong performances (2-for-3 and 3-for-4 with a couple HRs and lots of RBIs). Wouldn't it be nice to have an everyday right fielder that brings some consistency to the lineup and the outfield? Maybe Zobrist can hold down the fort at 2nd base with Aki gone and Joyce in RF. That leaves Aybar at the super utility guy and gets some really good bats in the lineup everyday. Additionally, the Rays are playing better baseball. In spite of the Indians series (I'm choosing to ignore that as an outlier for now since so many things happened that week that were negative), the Rays have won 11 out of the last 16 games and seem to be rounding into shape. In fact, excluding the Indian's series, the Rays only lost 1 series in all of May (they split a couple of 2 game sets and 1 4-game set). It's important that the Rays win the KC series and have some positive momentum going into the upcoming series against the Yankees, which is a big one! GO RAYS!

Also, 9equals8.com is now on Twitter. Check us out and follow our tweets at https://twitter.com/9equals8_com

GO RAYS!

Tampa Bay Rays finding their MoJo?

OK – so I was a game early with my last piece, but I can honestly say I saw the Rays making some good progress towards RaysBall. I'm even seeing some serious energy and excitment in the dugout for the first time in a while. Lots of creative handshake/fist/body bumps, etc. That's the sign that this team is starting to get into it a bit. There is no substitution for good MoJo.

I like what I am seeing from the Rays:

Rays batters are really grinding down the opposing pitchers. In the last 5 games, the Rays have forced the opposing team to through 153, 140, 146, 198, and 142. That’s over 17 pitches per average inning. The Rays are really working the count well and are grinding out at-bats. While this may not always lead to runs, this type of play is the hallmark of a good team. The hits will come if the Rays keep grinding out at-bats like they have been.

Starters are getting it done (even on off nights). Even after Kazmir’s tough night (he was off, but he also got some really tough breaks), the Rays starters are looking better by the game. Garza’s performance goes without saying…a TRUE GEM. Sonny didn’t want to come out and look silly after what Garza did the night before. So, he took the mound and put in a gutty performance. Yeah, he got into some trouble, but never big trouble (didn’t give up the long ball with guys on base). Most innings seemed to go out-hit/walk-out-hit/walk-out. And, that’s OK if you don’t give up extra bases, which he did not. Sonny wasn’t sharp, but the sign of a good pitcher is being able to win when you are having an off night. Sonny did just that (with the help of some stellar defense as well) and let’s hope this builds his confidence and gets him going.

Bullpen is rounding into form. After starting the first 10 games of 2008 as one of the worst bullpens in the AL by ERA, they are now one of the best for the entire season (slow start included; as measured by ERA). In my last post, I wrote about the bullpen’s 3 earned runs over the last 17 innings. Well, they’ve added to that inning total by throwing another 4 2/3 innings with no earned runs. So, over the last 22 innings or so, the Rays bullpen has given up a measly 3 earned runs. That’s an ERA of 1.22 or so. Additionally, they look very sharp. [Side Bar: on paper, these guys are better than 2008. Now, they are starting to prove that to be the case].

BJ seems to be finding his swing. He’s 3-for-8 with 3 walks against the Red Sox in this series. So, his OBP is .500, he’s stealing bases and scoring some runs… and the Rays have won both games. He also looks much beter at the plate. BJ is a key part of the Rays offense because he is so disruptive to pitchers and he has a knack for scoring runs when he’s on base (note Masterson and Beckett in the last 2 games when BJ is on base). It’s no coincidence that BJ was on base against Beckett when Carl drew the walk to load the bases (before Longo broke the game open with a bases clearing double in Game 1). When BJ is hitting, he makes the bottom of the lineup better (Bartlett and Aki) as well as the guys that follow him. His average is rising as is his OBP (which is still a staggering .150 or so above his batting average). I still contend that if BJ gets it going (and things are looking promising of late), the Rays are going to win a lot of games.

The Rays building momentum now rests with Jeff Niemann. Let’s hope that Rays can string a few together on this run through the AL East.

Getting back to "Raysball"?

Last night was the first night all season where I recognized the team I’ve come to love. No there wasn’t an explosion of home runs (at least HRs that mattered, sorry Carlos and JB) and there wasn’t anything fancy about the way the Rays chipped away at the Twins on offense with regular old timely base hits. The win was a combination of great starting pitching (hey, this Niemann guy sure has quieted down the “where is David Price” crowd with his stellar pitching after the first inning of his first outing), solid defense (no real blunders except the ball that Aki misplayed a bit) and a shut-down bullpen (no runs allowed). Were it not for the icing on the cake homeruns from Carlos and JB, this game, at 4-1, looked a lot like the Rays from 2008 (and that makes me very happy).

I’ve also noticed a couple of very positive trends:

1) the bullpen is really starting to come around - after a rough start, the Tampa Bay Rays bullpen has given up only 3 earned runs in the last 6 games over a total of 17 innings pitched (that’d be an ERA of 1.59 for those of you that are math challenged)

2) The starting pitchers are showing signs of progress. After a slow ramp up to full speed, intentionally done by Joe Maddon given the post-season run of 2008 (oh, the good old days), the Rays starting pitchers have not quite been themselves over their first few starts (you might equate these to what would normally be their last few starts of a normal spring training period).

• Shields looked a little rough in his first start against the Red Sox, came out smoking in his second start giving up only 3 hits in 7 innings, and then gave up 5 runs in his third start. Shields was anything if consistent in 2008. In his 4th start, Shields appeared to have very good control of his pitches, seems to have his velocity back up into the 92 MPH range and was mowing hitters down on his way to a 0-1 loss to Seattle.
  
• Kazmir has actually been pretty good with a few rough innings here and there (remember the 10 straight balls to begin the White Sox on 4/18…ugh). Well, he bounced back with 6 shutout innings against the A’s.
  
• Garza took a little while to get going last year, but his stuff is just plain nasty. I’ve not really seen Garza come around, but I am confident he will.
  
• Sonny has been roughed up pretty good in his first 4 starts. He’s simply not locating his pitches. But, Sonny is a feel pitcher and I’m hopeful that he’ll get the touch back soon.
  
• And, what can we say about Niemann? He has been more than we ever could have hoped for. Despite his record of 2-2, he’s kept the Rays in the game. With the exception of his first, very shaky inning, Niemann has been one of the Rays most consistent starters so far. If he can keep this up, I suspect you will see him in this rotation for a while in 2009.

3) Burrell is starting to hit and he is clearly seeing the ball better. Burrell was brought in to improve the Rays chances against lefties (especially the likes of Jon Lester, CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitt). But, he’s also served as very valuable protection for Carlos Pena, who is currently leading the AL in home runs and RBIs. That’s no coincidence. When pitchers had the luxury of working the black on Carlos, he was not as potent. But, if they have to throw strikes to him, he’s going to make them pay. You could make the same argument for Longoria, who is also off to a very hot start. He's got Carl Crawform on one side and Carlos Pena on the other. Well, despite his .238 average, Burrell has an OBP of .364 for the 2009 season, AND, he’s hitting .272 over his last 10 games with an OBP of .429. Those aren’t eye-popping, but they are up significantly from the .100-something he was hitting in the first 10 games (it was so bad, I don't even want to calculate it). In addition, he’s drawn 9 walks in the last 10 games. When hitters are walking, they are hitting. Burrell is starting to come around and is likely about to break out for the Rays (that’s my prediction).

So, what am I worried about? Well, other than being in last place 12.3% into the season, I am most worried about BJ Upton. He’s been in a severe slump and it makes me wonder if his shoulder is just not quite right, yet. Maybe it would serve him well to hit #7, #8 or #9 for a couple of weeks to take some pressure off. After all, Aki and JB have been very strong in April and have both proven they are able to handle the leadoff spot. BJ is the future leadoff guy for this team and he has the potential to be a Ricky Henderson type leadoff guy (unique combination of power and speed). But, he can’t do it until he gets his head right. If BJ is not hitting, that hurts in a big way. In a lot of ways, the leadoff guy sets the tone for each game. Let’s recall BJ’s first game back against the Yankees on 4/13. He walked on 6 pitches to start the game. He then stole second AND third base! He then scored on a hit by Carlos Pena. That set the tone for a game that ended with the Rays a big winner 15-5 (BJ finished 1-3 with 3 walks, 2 SBs and 2 runs scored). BJ ate up 30 pitches in that game! For comparison’s sake, Game 2 of the Yankees series was a different story. BJ struck out swinging in his first at bat and was on his way to an 0-4 game with a hat trick (3 Ks and he only saw 16 pitches in that game). The Rays lost the game 7-2, collected a meager 3 hits and didn’t score until the 7th inning. Now, I am not blaming that loss on BJ since the bullpen was the real culprit that time, but I make the point that an impactful leadoff guy can get a team going early. BJ has the potential to shape each and every game right out of the gate.

Let’s all hope that BJ gets back into the swing of things soon (or just finds ways to get on base). We should all keep an eye on his progress. With some of the other pieces starting to come together, I strongly believe that BJ is the lynch pin that could ignite a nice run by the Rays in 2009.

Rays Look Impressive in Opening Series Against the Boston Red Sox

After dropping their Opening Day game 5-3 to the Red Sox (and a dominant Josh Beckett), the Rays answered with strong pitching performances by Scott Kazmir and Matt Garza, both of whom picked up a win at Fenway. Lest we forget that it took until mid-September in 2008 for the Rays to pick up a single win on the road against the Red Sox, this was an impressive couple of wins for the Rays and a great way to kick off the 2009 season.

Key take-aways from the opening series:
1) Rays first 3 starters looked very strong. Shields was roughed up a little bit, but he never lost control of the game even though he gave up a few more than we would have liked. The Rays were still very much in Game 1 and could have tied/won the game with one or two timely hits late in the game. Kazmir's fastball was alive and well. He had some crazy movement on his consistent 92+ MPH fastball and was very much on with his change-up. We saw a few good sliders, but I hope to see more of them this year. Garza looked like he hasn't missed a beat since the ALCS. He is really tarting to come into his own. His stuff is just nasty!

2) Rays bats were alive and well after a quiet, 3-hit showing against Beckett. In total, the Rays put up 26 hits (including 13 for extra bases) and scored 14 runs. Notables include Longoria who was 6 for 14 with 2 doubles, 2 homeruns and 5 RBIs; Iwamura who was 5 for 10 with 2 doubles and 3 walks (on-base of .615). Carlos Pena had a rough start to the season going 0 for 5 with 5 Ks, but he contributed a 2-run homerun in Game 2 as well as a single and 3 BBs. His on-base is still nearly .400 even with his very weak start. Finally, Matt Joyce collected his first hit and his first homerun as a Ray in Game 3 when he launched one over the right field fence at Fenway. I like the way this kid looks a lot. As a side note, Edwin Jackson (whom the Rays traded for Matt Joyce) pitched lights out in his Detroit debut (April 7th - pitching as Detroits #2 starter) in what was probably his career best performance. He pitched 7 1/3 innings allowing only 2 hits and only 1 earned run. I hope we didn't let one get away....

3) Rays defense was a little shaky in the outfield, but got the job done. Both Kapler and Joyce had a little bit of trouble in CF. CF at Fenway is no easy task, to be fair, but the Rays will be vastly improved when BJ Upton returns to his post in CF and Joyce and Kapler can spend more time in RF.

Up next for the Rays are the very potent Baltimore Orioles offense (just ask CC Sabathia and Chien-Ming Wang). The Rays should not take these guys lightly as they clearly have the ability to put some runs on the board quickly. I will be keen to see how Sonnanstine's new Changeup performs as well as how the back end of the Baltimore rotation holds up. While the Orioles have plenty of offensive fire power, their purported weakness is the starting rotation. Game time is 7:05PM tonight, 7:05PM tomorrow and 1:35PM on Sunday. Happy Easter!

No $$$ for 2009 Rays Season Tickets? No Problem - Use Ours!

As some of you know, 9=8.com has Rays season tickets (2 seats) right behind the Rays Dugout (check out the seats here - they are Lower Box on the First Base side just about center of the Rays dugout and 9 rows up). While it'd be great if we could make all of the games, that's just not feasible. So, we wanted to offer some of our OUTSTANDING seats to our visitors at face value (no giant StubHub mark-up here - although sometimes you can get tickets on StubHub for less than face value, so you might want to look there as well). Just don't forget your glove as lots of foul balls make their way into this area.

From time to time this year, I will post available seats for you to purchase at face value (no convenience fees or anything like that). This is the same price you'd pay at the Rays Box office, but you get MUCH BETTER SEATS! These tickets will be sold on a first come, first served basis. Delivery will be arranged either in person or via email (Rays season tickerholders can send e-Tickets thru TicketMaster for an extra $2).

CURRENTLY AVAILABLE 9=8.com TICKETS (May 2009):
(check RaysBaseball.com for updated game times - subject to change)


Monday, May 4th - Rays vs. Baltimore (7:08PM) - 2 tickets @ $44 each

Tuesday, May 5th - Rays vs. Baltimore (4:08PM) - 2 tickets @ $44 each

Thursday, May 14th - Rays vs. Cleveland (7:08PM) - 2 tickets @ $44 each

Friday, May 15th - Rays vs. Cleveland (7:38PM) - 2 tickets @ $44 each

Saturday, May 16th - Rays vs. Cleveland (4:10PM) - 2 tickets @ $52 each

Sunday, May 17th - Rays vs. Cleveland (1:38PM) - 2 tickets @ $44 each

Monday, May 18th - Rays vs. Oakland (7:08PM) - 2 tickets @ $44 each

Tuesday, May 19th - Rays vs. Oakland (7:08PM) - 2 tickets @ $44 each

Wednesday, May 20th - Rays vs. Oakland (7:08PM) - 2 tickets @ $44 each

Thursday, May 21st - Rays vs. Oakland (4:08PM) - 2 tickets @ $44 each


If you are interested in any of these games or if you have any questions, email us at 9equals8@gmail.com. Please give me a couple of days to respond to your emails.

Check back for regular updates.

What are they saying now? Tampa Bay Rays in the News

I often spend time on teh weekends surfing around other AL East newspapers to see what the competition is saying about the Tampa Bay Rays. So, I thought I might share some of what is out there on our team. The articles below are all within the last few weeks and give you an interesting look into how other sports writers view our team and its prospects for 2009. If you come upon any other interesting original articles from major newspapers about our boys, don't hesitate to email it to me. Enjoy!

Finally a winner, Rays work to fill more seats – Associated Press 3/12/2009
“Clearly, we are being throttled somewhat by the economy,” Stuart “Stu” Sternberg said. “We're still going to be next-to-last in season-ticket sales. I'm pleased with the growth, but we have a ways to go yet.”

Without providing specifics, Sternberg says ticket sales are up over last year. "We're right at expectations," is how he puts it.

Tampa Bay Rays encore: they believe in the best is yet to come – Sun Sentinel 3/11/2009
"They are no longer the "upstart Rays" or the "Amazing Rays."

Rays are Big Fish Now – Boston Globe 2/28/2009
"The Yankees have the money and the new stadium. The Red Sox have the MVP, the Nation, and newfound stability. But going into 2009, the Tampa Bay Rays are the defending league champs and the team to beat in the American League East."

Tampa Bay aims to improve amazing turnaround of 2008 – Seattle Times 2/22/2009
"Every downtrodden team in baseball harbors secret — or not-so-secret — hopes of being the Tampa Bay Rays of 2009."

It’s the No-Longer-Surprising Rays – New York Times 2/13/2009
"Mostly, though, Maddon believes that the Rays, who rocketed from a decade of oblivion into the World Series last October, can be even better."

Confident Joba: We’re Top Dogs in East – New York Post 2/12/2009
"We're always the team to beat, and we have that in our minds from the get-go, "Chamberlain said yesterday. "With the year the Rays had, people are going to look at it that they're the team to beat. But . . . we're always going to be the hunted just because of who we are and . . . we always go with the mindset that we are the best and that's the way you have to play."

2009 AL East Preview – RBI Magazine 2/21/2009
"The American League East landscape changed dramatically last season as the Tampa Bay Rays finally wrestled the AL East Crown out of the hands of the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees."

Tampa Bay Rays Regular Season Home Opener Now Sold Out!

It's great to see so much excitement around the Rays 2009 season. In fact, I was looking into some extra tickets to the home opener today (using my season ticket password) and it is [UPDATED] sold out before tickets go on sale to the general public tomorrow! It'll be a great way to start 2009 for the Rays (with a sellout). Does it really get much better than hoisting the American League Champion banner in front of the half-billion dollar Yankees? Of course, you can still get tickets to the home opener by purchasing a season ticket packages. For example, half season (weekend plan) Lower Box seats are available in Section 121 and 122. Or, if you are feeling adventurous, Full Season Tickets are available in 103, Row J (Home Plate Club) or Lower Box seats in Sections 107-Wheel Chair, 118-Row EE, 120-X or 122-L. Those are some pretty good seats still available!!!

StubHub now has 1500+ tickets available (so it appears as though there are some entrepreneurs in the Tampa Bay area) from $27 (upper deck) to $1,500+ (home plate club). I'm not sure why anyone would pay $1,500 when that would buy you half of the season in the Lower Box.

Some great seats are still available for the Tuesday and Wednesday Yankee games, but the good seats are likely to sell pretty quickly once the sale is opened to the public. Wouldn't it be great to start the season off with 3 sellouts? Come on, Rays Fans, let's pack the Trop!!!

Let's pack the TROP and show the Yankees we aren't messing around this year!!!