6/7: RAYS 5, Texas 4

by Patrick L. Kennedy on Jun 7, 2008 11:13 PM EDT in Game Threads

RAYS 5, Texas 4

Rangers Ballpark
Arlington, TX

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E	L
RAYS	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	5	9	0	8
Texas	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	4	9	1	9

Win Probability Table and Stats Courtesy of Fan Graphs

Three Up
Player	WPA
1B Willy Aybar	.252
CF B.J. Upton	.176
RP Dan Wheeler	.167

Three Down
Player	WPA
3B Evan Longoria	-.145
DH Eric Hinske	-.101
RP Trever Miller	-.067

For My Thoughts on the Game, Please Follow the Jump

You can't say enough about the work of LHP J.P. Howell this evening. He continues to be the most valuable member of the bullpen, and it is games like this that prove it. The Rays are fortunate in that they have a guy like Howell who doesn't have to be pigeon-holed into one-inning stints. It is his ability to be effective over several innings that is crucial to the team. Multi-inning relievers don't necessarily have to be mop-up men. Progressive teams can utilize their services at crucial points in the game to further their chances at winning, and to their credit, that is exactly what the Rays are doing. He came in during a tie game and pitched two solid innings, yielding only one walk, and he bought the Rays offense enough time to get going. Usually I completely throw out Win-Loss statistics as a useless means of player evaluation, but Howell's 5-0 record encapsulates exactly what is so great about him. You can never overestimate a reliever who comes in and pitches effectively at crucial moments in the game.
Even RHP Dan Wheeler deserves a bit of credit for his ability to get out of the ninth inning jam. Granted, he shouldn't get a free pass for giving up two hits and a walk in the ninth, but in the most crucial moment of the game, he managed to persevere. There is a difference between what Wheeler did in what inning, and what starter Andy Sonnanstine did in four. Constantly getting into jams is not a sign of a good pitcher, but getting out of the ones that you do occasionally find yourself in is. And there is no bigger jam then finding yourself with the bases loaded and one out, two runs up in the ninth inning, and with DH Josh Hamilton and RF Milton Bradley the next two batters due. Those are great odds to overcome, and to his credit, Wheeler did.
Sonnanstine himself had an okay start this evening, but to call it anything beyond that is giving him too much credit. Limiting one of the American League's premier offensive clubs to two runs over five innings is nothing to blow your nose at, and doing it in their home stadium is nothing short of commendable. Despite this, Sonnanstine is still showing a penchant for getting hit hard, and he displayed poor command early on. Texas stranded runners at second base in each of his first four innings of work, and in fact they did so despite putting that runner there with no outs in both the second and third innings. While you could credit Sonnanstine for being able to wiggle out of these jams, you'd only be crediting him for having a good deal of luck. The fact of the matter is, the only difference between this start and Sonnanstine's last several is that the lack of situational hitting on the part of the opposing team allowed him to escape without being bombed. This is more likely luck than it is skill, given his inability to repeat this ability in previous outings. There was no appreciable improvement with regards to the factors causing him trouble, and that is what I take out of this outing. On the flip side, you can credit Sonnanstine for keeping his team in the game. The 'R' category doesn't lie, and in a hitter's park against a good hitting team, he allowed the Rays to remain in the ballgame long enough to win it. In that regard, the end justifies the means. Hopefully he can build upon this outing next Friday night against the Marlins in the hitting-neutral confines of Tropicana Field.
CF B.J. Upton continues to astound me. He reached base another four times this evening, doubling and singling as well as walking twice. I <3 B.J. Upton.
The Rays continue to get solid production from the bottom of their order, specifically in this game from 1B Willy Aybar and RF Gabe Gross, who batted sixth and seventh, respectively. While just one player in the whole lineup had multiple hits (Upton), every starter but 2B Akinori Iwamura recorded at least one hit, and Iwamura reached base via a walk. That the Rays continue to see production spread among many players is encouraging, and it makes the team more slump-resistant.
Aybar had the key hit of the game, a two-out double in the eighth inning that scored two to give the Rays a 4-2 lead. He made his second start of the season at first base in the game, and don't look now, but his OPS is up to .853 on the year. Aybar has performed extremely well since being activated from the disabled list several weeks ago. Though he should be crowded out of regular playing time upon the return of 1B Carlos Peña from the DL, Aybar will prove immensely valuable as a bench bat if he keeps this up.
The importance of Gross' two-run second inning homer cannot be discounted either in the context of the game. The homer gave the Rays a 2-1 lead early and it proved how valuable depth is to the team. The two biggest single contributions this evening came from players who are not regular starters, yet were pressed into duty due to injury and time off. The Rays' ability to bolster their depth in the off-season is quickly proving to be crucial in their success, and the strong performances of Gross and Aybar give the Rays confidence in their ability to maintain a high level of play should an injury or a need for time off arise.
Lastly, but certainly not least(ly), I wanted to point out the play of SS Jason Bartlett tonight. Bartlett made several excellent defensive plays as usual, including turning the fielder's choice quickly for the second out in the ninth, but he was also key offensively in the Rays' pursuit of a win. Like Upton last night, Bartlett took advantage of the defensive shortcomings of Texas C Jarrod Saltalamacchia to steal two bases in the ninth following his one-out single. Bartlett later came home on Texas RHP Jamey Wright's wild pitch. This adept baserunning on Bartlett's part gave the Rays a vital insurance run that would prove to be the winning run of the ballgame. He cannot be credited enough for his role in the win.

Poll

Who was the MVP of this evening's game?

SP Andy Sonnanstine

6 votes

RP J.P. Howell

30 votes

CF B.J. Upton

7 votes

1B Willy Aybar

64 votes

RF Gabe Gross

8 votes

SS Jason Bartlett

21 votes

136 votes | Poll has closed

Tweet Comment 11 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Wrong Score

/bustin chops

by Vin on Jun 8, 2008 12:02 AM EDT reply actions

Ah crap

I started this post in the top of the ninth inning and updated from there as the game’s events transpired. I got the linescore right, but unfortunately not the other two score mentions. Thanks.

by Patrick L. Kennedy on Jun 8, 2008 12:09 AM EDT up reply actions

i was at the game tonight,

wayyyy to exciting. hope tomorrow is less so.

by davidsmarch on Jun 8, 2008 12:05 AM EDT reply actions

i am surprised more teams don’t have a good bullpen inning eater like howell… usually a reliever that pitches more than 2 innings is called a mop-up man…but on the Rays, it’s the bullpen MVP—and it seems to be working.

9 = 8

by websterjtc on Jun 8, 2008 1:06 AM EDT reply actions

a few more notes:

- Upton misplayed that ball in the bottom of the 9th.

- Wheeler got shafted on a strikeout.

- Miller shouldn’t pitch to righties.

- on bartlett’s great stop in the bottom of the 9th, could he have gotten the force at 3rd?

9 = 8

by websterjtc on Jun 8, 2008 1:11 AM EDT reply actions

On Bartlett's throw....

Maybe. I didn’t get a good angle on it, but it was a longer throw.

by Patrick L. Kennedy on Jun 8, 2008 1:18 AM EDT up reply actions

moot point, but, i think the throw to third would have been easier because he was already running towards third to get the ball. if he threw to third, he wouldn’t have had to turn around, plant, and make the throw.

9 = 8

by websterjtc on Jun 8, 2008 9:05 AM EDT up reply actions

I had to listen to the 9th inning on the radio, but the Rangers radio announcers also mentioned Upton misplayed the hit in the bot 9th.

Longlorious.

by RATW on Jun 8, 2008 1:19 AM EDT up reply actions

JP Howell

I jjust finished reading the section on Relief Ace use in Bill James’ Historical Baseball Abstract (or whatever its called). For those that have the book and wanna give it alook it’s in the section about the 1950s. Very interesting study of Relief Aces through the years, and how ineffective the current use is. Essentially he comes to the conclusion that an RA who comes in to pitch in tied or one run games late is the most effective way to use them. They can effect the W/L record better that way than any other way. The model he uses ends up w/ a Relief Ace that wins about 20 games and has about 25 saves, IIRC. Pretty interesting read, and it would be great if a real team could use releivers this way and see how it turns out.

by rglass44 on Jun 8, 2008 2:12 PM EDT reply actions