<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Feels good to see this, doesn't it? <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23RaysWin&src=hash">#RaysWin</a> <a href="http://t.co/jDcZfbMJdU">pic.twitter.com/jDcZfbMJdU</a></p>— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) <a href="https://twitter.com/RaysBaseball/statuses/378353974165770240">September 13, 2013</a></blockquote>
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Why yes, @RaysBaseball, it does feel good to see a win. The Rays have only had five wins in their last 18 games, so it’s not exactly a common occurrence any more. Nevertheless, winning against the Red Sox while in the midst of a playoff race is always sweet. It was also nice to see both Evan Longoria and Wil Myers heat up at the same time. Take another look at Myers’ barely-fair go ahead double one more time. For more on the offensive spark, check out Ian’s recap here.
It also appears that all Jeremy Hellickson needed was a trip to Port Charlotte in order to get his head back in the game. Since returning from his demotion, Hellickson has pitched significantly better than earlier this year. Over those two outings, Hellickson has gone 10.1 innings, allowings three earned runs while striking out eleven.
Wil Myers gave a pretty awe-inspiring quote to reporters after the game. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Rays&src=hash">#Rays</a> Myers on the win: "We needed it bad. We needed a win bad. With the wild card getting tight, we needed a win here."</p>— RMooneyTBO (@RMooneyTBO) <a href="https://twitter.com/RMooneyTBO/statuses/378357694983196672">September 13, 2013</a></blockquote>
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Per the Rays postgame notes, Joe Maddon talked with reporters about the Rays’ luck balancing out.
It’s a cyclical kind of a thing where if you look at our bad luck this month, it’s been incredibly bad based on potential RBI situations and either getting the job done or not. It’s really been awfully imbalanced to the negative. I want to believe, knowing how this game works, that it’s going to come back to us. What better time to come back to us than right now. …You keep pounding on the door, eventually the door is going to open up again. If you quit and go home and cry and call your mom and you’re complaining a bit and you feel badly for yourself, then it goes away and you end up cooking steaks in the beginning of October on a grill.
The Rays head to Minnesota today for a three game series against the Twins. Chris Archer gets the start tonight against Kevin Correia at 8:10 PM EST. On Saturday, Matt Moore looks for win number 16 against Andrew Albers. David Price will wrap up the series on Sunday against Pedro Hernandez. The Twins have been beaten up by the Athletics in their past two games, losing 18-3 on Wednesday and 8-2 yesterday.
Looking forward to next week, Texas has Matt Garza listed as their starter for Monday’s game at the Trop.
Links:
-Adam Sobsey recently interviewed Chris Gimenez and JD Martin and discussed the two’s prior history before they were with the Rays organization.
-The Rays are happy, the Orioles are sad, as pointed out by David Schoenfield of ESPN’s The Sweet Spot.
-Alex Remington of FanGraphs explores "sign stealing".
-Was a hot dog vendor at Comerica Park really fired because he didn’t believe in putting ketchup on hot dogs? There were complaints filed against him!
-As the Rays head into Minnesota, the Twins are still missing one of their key players, Joe Mauer, who started experiencing concussion symptoms again while participating in light workouts.