Lance Cormier And Rest Of Bullpen Keep Game In Check

The bullpen once again had to come into the game very early to put out the fire that was set ablaze by ineffective starting pitching.  After Scott Kazmir did his best Chien-Ming Wang impression the combination of Lance Cormier, Troy Pecival(!?), J.P. Howell and Dan Wheeler threw 5.2 innings of one hit, shutout baseball that gave the Rays offense enough time to get things going against a bad Indian pitching staff.  As a whole the bullpen was great, but I wanted to focus on one member specifically.  That one member is you, Lance Cormier.  Cormier relieved Scott Kazmir and threw 2.2 innings of hitless baseball while striking out three.  It was exactly what the Rays needed, and what Cormier has been doing all season.  So, like RJ did earlier this week, I'm going to address him personally.

Dear Mr. Cormier,

Hi Lance.  Can I call you Lance? Okay, good.  I just wanted to say, on behalf of the staff here at DRaysBay, thank you.  We appreciate what you're doing for this team.  You've pitched nearly as many innings as Jeff Niemann this season(29.0 to 33.2), making you the team's defacto 6th starter.  That's both amazing and sad at the same time.  I don't know if you can keep up your current pace, most of your numbers this season are far far better than what you've put up over the course of your career, but frankly I'm starting to not care.  Maybe you're the new J.P. Howell, who knows.  Anyway, you seem to have taken to this long relief role very nicely, and so far it's been beneficial to everyone involved.  Thanks again,

Your Biggest Fans,

DRaysBay

P.S. Keep growing that beard, it looks excellent.