Oh the joys of baseball weather it be the smells of hot dog, or the site of families gathering, or even the thought of a opening day game played in 51 degree weather with a 50% chance of rain. Oh the joy and rapture. There is nothing like seeing your defending American League Champions bundled up like Kenny from South Park. Sadly, this how the road back to October will begin.
The Rays will try to put behind a great, some say "magical," season behind them and play solid baseball for 162 games. New addition Pat Burrell will have some fun knocking in the likes of BJ Upton and Carl Crawford all seson long.
The Tampa Bay 9 will be taking on the divisional "Hatfields" to the Yankees "McCoys," the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox come in with a slight monkey on their back, trying to take on the young franchise of the Rays. Boston has upgraded their line-up as well with the likes of Rocco Baldelli.
Time Capsule
We Go no further then last game the Rays play Boston in 2008, Game 7 or the ALCS where the Rays won 3-1.
Tropicana Field, Attendance: 40,473 |
Sunday, October 19, 2008 Time of Game: 3:31 |
Red Sox 1 Terry Francona |
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E - - - - - - - - - - - - Red Sox 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 Rays 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 X 3 6 1W: M Garza (2-0), L: J Lester (0-2), S: D Price (1) |
Rays 3 Joe Maddon |
BATTING
Boston Red Sox AB R H RBI BB SO BA OPS Pit PO A Details C Crisp CF 4 0 1 0 0 1 .450 1.092 21 3 0 D Pedroia 2B 2 1 1 1 1 0 .346 1.200 21 1 3 HR,SB,CS,HBP D Ortiz DH 3 0 0 0 1 2 .154 .698 29 0 0 K Youkilis 3B 3 0 0 0 1 0 .333 1.008 17 2 1 J Drew RF 3 0 0 0 1 2 .250 .796 15 2 0 J Bay LF 3 0 1 0 1 2 .292 .927 19 1 0 M Kotsay 1B 4 0 0 0 0 1 .233 .566 16 6 0 J Varitek C 4 0 0 0 0 3 .050 .374 19 8 1 A Cora SS 3 0 0 0 0 1 .143 .286 8 1 1 J Lowrie PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 .111 .428 2 0 0 J Lester P 0 1 H Okajima P 0 0 Totals 30 1 3 1 5 12 167 24 7BATTING HR: D Pedroia (3, off M Garza; 1st inn, 0 on, 1 out to Deep LF Line). HBP: D Pedroia (1, by M Garza). TB: D Pedroia 4; C Crisp; J Bay. RBI: D Pedroia (5). Team LOB: 8. With RISP: 0 for 6. BASERUNNING SB: D Pedroia (2, 2nd base off M Garza/D Navarro). CS: D Pedroia (1, 2nd base by M Garza/D Navarro).
Tampa Bay Rays AB R H RBI BB SO BA OPS Pit PO A Details A Iwamura 2B 4 0 1 0 0 0 .207 .600 13 2 1 B Upton CF 4 0 0 0 0 1 .321 1.180 15 0 0 C Pena 1B 4 1 0 0 0 2 .269 1.060 15 8 0 E Longoria 3B 3 0 1 1 0 0 .259 1.148 12 0 1 2B C Crawford LF 3 0 0 0 0 2 .345 .850 10 2 0 W Aybar DH 3 2 2 1 0 0 .421 1.210 14 0 0 HR,2B D Navarro C 3 0 1 0 0 1 .192 .442 17 10 3 R Baldelli RF 3 0 1 1 0 2 .333 1.262 11 2 0 G Gross RF 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .091 0 0 J Bartlett SS 3 0 0 0 0 1 .217 .743 9 3 1 M Garza P 0 2 D Wheeler P 0 0 J Howell P 0 0 C Bradford P 0 0 D Price P 0 0 Totals 30 3 6 3 0 9 116 27 8BATTING 2B: W Aybar (1, off J Lester); E Longoria (3, off J Lester). HR: W Aybar (2, off J Lester; 7th inn, 0 on, 0 outs to Deep LF). TB: W Aybar 6; E Longoria 2; A Iwamura; R Baldelli; D Navarro. RBI: E Longoria (8); W Aybar (6); R Baldelli (4). 2-out RBI: E Longoria. Team LOB: 3. With RISP: 2 for 6. FIELDING DP: 1. D Navarro-J Bartlett. E: J Bartlett (2).
PITCHING
Boston Red Sox IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA BF Pit-Str Ct·Sw·Lk GB·FB·LD· ? GmSc IR-IS LevI WPA J Lester, L (0-2) 7 6 3 3 0 8 1 4.97 27 107-77 46·12·19 7· 9· 3· 0 61 - 1.02 -0.03 H Okajima 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.00 3 9-6 3· 0· 3 1· 1· 0· 0 0-0 0.21 0.01 Totals 8 6 3 3 0 9 1 30 116-83 49·12·22 8·10· 3· 0 -
Tampa Bay Rays IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA BF Pit-Str Ct·Sw·Lk GB·FB·LD· ? GmSc IR-IS LevI WPA M Garza, W (2-0) 7 2 1 1 3 9 1 1.38 27 118-75 39·14·22 6· 6· 2· 0 75 - 1.16 0.27 D Wheeler, H (1) 0.1 1 0 0 0 0 0 5.40 2 8-5 4· 0· 1 1· 1· 0· 0 1-0 3.16 -0.01 J Howell, H (1) 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3.38 1 7-5 4· 0· 1 1· 0· 0· 0 2-0 3.52 0.07 C Bradford 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3.00 1 6-2 1· 0· 1 0· 0· 0· 0 2-0 2.82 -0.05 D Price, S (1) 1.1 0 0 0 1 3 0 0.00 5 24-15 7· 4· 4 1· 0· 0· 0 3-0 2.62 0.21 Totals 9 3 1 1 5 12 1 36 163-102 55·18·29 9· 7· 2· 0 8-0M Garza faced 1 batter in the 8th inning.
C Bradford faced 1 batter in the 8th inning. Balks: None. WP: None. IBB: None. HBP: M Garza (1; D Pedroia).
So, Draysbay what will the first opening series in 2009 bring? Will it be a beginning to a beautiful season or will it be a cold reminder of how much we love the warm weather or Florida? Go Get 'em Rays!