Rays Game of the Month: May

The Rays had a winning  of my May with a 14-13 record and finished the month with an overall record of 29-25. They were in 3rd place in the American League East 1.5 games behind the New York Yankees and a half game behind the Boston Red Sox. The Rays were involved in nne 1-run games and posted a record of 4-5.  Several games just missed the cut to be included in the poll.

• May  5, 2011: David Price 8.2 innings with 10 K's as Rays beat Jays 3-1.
• May 6, 2011: Brandon Guyer homers in first at-bat with Rays.
• May 27, 2011: David Price strikes out 12 Indians as Rays win 5-0.

Game Highlights After The Jump

May 3, 2011: B.J. Upton delivers a walk-off homer as Rays defeat Jays 3-2.

The Rays offense was hoping to receive a spark with the return of Evan Longoria but a trio of Toronto pitchers held the Rays offense to 1 run on 4 hits over the first 8 innings and the Rays entered the 9th down 2-1 and Toronto had turned to closer Jon Rauch to shut the door. The crowd at Tropicana Field seemed to come to life prior to the ninth inning after the scoreboard posted the result that the Tampa Bay Lightning had defeated the Washington Capitals to take a 3-0 lead in their best of seven playoff series. Ben Zobrist gave the fans more to cheer about as he led off the ninth with a single to set the stage for B.J. Upton who delivered a walk-off 2-run homer to give the Rays the 3-2 victory.

May 13, 2011: Jeremy Hellickson twirls complete game shutout as Rays defeat Baltimore 3-0.

If Jeremy Hellickson is superstitious it didn't show as he pitched his best game as a pro on Friday the 13th. Hellickson gave up 4 hits while striking out 3 and walking 1. Joe Maddon allowed Hellickson to extend his pitch count to 120 and the victory marked Hellickson first ever complete game nine-inning shutout in professional ball.

May 16, 2011: Rays use a 5 run 6th to overcome a 4-run deficit to defeat Yankees 6-5.

The New York Yankees jumped all over Rays starter David Price pounding him for 5R/5ER on 6 hits in 5 innings as the Yankees raced out to a 5-1 lead over the Rays. The Rays had entered the game with a 2-game lead over the Yankees for first place in the American League East and even though trailing during the fifth inning the fans at Tropicana Field showed moxie by ridiculing the Yankees by chanting "who's in first place."  The Rays gave credence to the fans chant in the bottom of the sixth by putting up a 5 spot on Yankees starter A.J. Burnett.  In the inning, the Rays belted two 2-run homers, one by Sam Fuld and the other by B.J. Upton, as the Rays put up a 5 spot in the top of the sixth totake a 6-5 lead. The Rays used three relievers to shut the Yankees down for the final 4 innings extending the Rays lead to 3 games in the AL East and extending the Yankee losing streak to 6 games in a row.

May 22, 2011: James Shields with a complete game shut out while striking out 13 as Rays defeat Marlins 3-0.

James Shields continued to roll as he pitches another complete game shut out on 3 hits while striking out 13 (tying the club record) and walking 0. He made 126 pitches in the south Florida heat and the victory helped the Rays avoid a sweep at the hands of the Marlins. Shields even contributed to the offense by driving in his first ever RBI on a bases loaded groundout in the top of the second inning.

May 31, 2011: Evan Longoria back at cleanup launches a 2-run HR in 8th to give Rays 5-4 victory over Rangers.

Joe Maddon knew Evan Longoria was slumping and had inserted him as the leadoff hitter to try and get him to relax. After 3 games of being the leadoff hitter, Maddon re-inserted Longoria into the cleanup spot and Longoria responded with a lead changing 2-run homer in the bottom of the eighth off Ranger reliever Arthur Rhodes to put the Rays up 5-4 over the Texas Rangers. Kyle Farnsworth held the Rangers scoreless in the bottom of the ninth earning his 10th save of the season.