 |
RAYS 13, New York 4
Yankee Stadium
Bronx, NY
|
 |
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
R |
H |
E |
| RAYS |
1 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
0 |
13 |
4 |
0 |
| New York |
0 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
6 |
1 |
Win Probability table courtesy of Fan Graphs
For my thoughts on the game, please follow the jump
What is
there to say that the Rays' offense already didn't? To a Rays fan, this
was the most fun ballgame that you've witnessed in a long, long time. A
13-4 win is satisfying any day you can get it, but for that 13-4 win to
come against the Yankees in Yankee Stadium is just complete
euphoria. To watch the New York fans stream towards the exits amidst
the Rays' eighth inning beatdown was just a thing of beauty.
In
looking at the game, the offense obviously gets the lion's share of the
credit for a dominating performance. But starting pitcher Andy
Sonnanstine also deserves some credit for his outing today. Sure, he
didn't leave with a quality start and his ERA following the game was an
even six, but for five of his six innings of work on Friday night, it
looked like he and the Rays' rotation could be in for a long-term
relationship. Aside from the third inning of play, in which Sonnanstine
surrendered all four Yankee runs, he was absolutely dominant. In the
other five innings, Sonnanstine surrendered no runs and just one hit;
he didn't walk any all evening, while striking out four. Obviously, for
the purposes of evaluating his evening tonight, you can't exclude the
third inning from judgement. However for a season debut in Yankee
Stadium against that lineup, Sonnanstine performed brilliantly. This is
an absolutely critical year for Sonny's future, and he's off to a good
start.
Also,
while we're on the subject of pitching, how about the effort by
tonight's bullpen? Three no-hit, shutout innings and just one walk
allowed. You've especially got to like the four pitch, four strike
inning turned in by RHP Dan Wheeler, who so far has earned every bit of
his new contract.
But
the bread and butter of tonight's game was clearly the offense, which
so far has scored 25 runs through the Rays' first three games of play.
That's awesome, and hopefully it's a pace that will be mostly sustained
throughout the season. 2B Akinori Iwamura rebounded from a slow start
in the season's first two games to reach base four times, including
three hits. Also, 1B Carlos Peña hit an absolute bomb during the Rays'
seven run eighth inning into the upper deck in right field. There was
no doubt about that homer off of the bat; he crushed it. So far for
Peña, who also drew a walk on the evening, there appears to be no
letting up from the torrid pace that he established last season. He is
earning every bit of his new contract.
Tying
Peña's team-leading two home runs was DH Cliff Floyd, who launched a
laser of a home run to lead off that eighth inning that cleared the
right field wall. What is especially impressive about the home run was
that it wasn't a meatball out over the plate that Floyd whacked. He
took a pitch low and away from Yankees RH LaTroy Hawkins and drove it
out on his own massive power. Floyd's knees continue to bother him, and
his injury history is very well-established, but I'm hopeful that
having the Designated Hitter position here in the American League will
do him wonders. He has obviously got a ton of juice still left in the
bat, and while he isn't as durable as the Cliff Floyd of yesteryear, he
can still rake. Floyd also drew a walk on the evening.
The
news coming out of the evening that C Dioner Navarro will be sidelined
for at least 15 days is clearly unfortunate, especially since he was
doing so well to start the season. You had to figure that Navarro was
well on his way to continuing the second half that he had last year and
putting that ugly first half behind him, which is why the injury he
suffered is so painful. Add in the relatively fluky nature of the
injury, and you have another terrible turn of luck for a man who has
been well-versed in bad luck already. Here's wishing Navarro a speedy
recovery.
The
"good" to come from this injury, if you're even comfortable saying
that, is the opportunity that it gives Shawn Riggans. Riggans is
another individual that has been blessed with poor luck and plenty of
injuries throughout his minor league career, injuries that deprived him
the opportunity of an extended stay in the major leagues last year as
Navarro's backup. I met Riggans once at an Instructional League game in
the fall of '05, and there is just no nicer individual. He's very
personable and articulate which, if you stuck around for Todd Kalas'
interview with him postgame, you saw. No one is rooting harder for
Riggans than I, and hopefully he makes the most of an opportunity that
came to him in an unfortunate way. He clearly got a head start on that
today, driving in three with a pinch-hit double in the third inning
that gave the Rays a 5-0 lead. Riggans would pick up another hit on the
day to finish two for five.
So
obviously the Rays put up a well-rounded offensive game today. Credit
also needs to go out to CF B.J. Upton and 3B Eric Hinske, each of whom
had two hits. Upton also walked and Hinske doubled. Here are some other
things I observed during the game:
- LF
Carl Crawford has gotten off to a quick start, no pun intended, in the
base-stealing department. So far he is three for three in steals on the
year, and what impresses me most about that is not the rate at which
they're coming, but rather his success at attaining them. That shows me
that Carl is being more judicious in his baserunning selection, which,
based on the number of bases he steals every year, will be immensely valuable to the team.
- There's really no reason that RF Nathan Haynes should be starting
baseball games, even with Gomes suspended. If 3B Willy Aybar's
hamstring is acting up, that's one thing, but I've seen no indication
given that that's the case. He should have been starting at third base
this evening, and Hinske should have started where he belongs, and
that's in right field. By starting Haynes and Hinske both, you are
essentially losing a bat and fielding competence, respectively, and
there's no reason for it. Haynes' role on the team needs to be limited
to pinch-runner and late innings defensive replacement, not starting
outfielder. Unless I am recalling incorrectly, he has not yet been able
to get the ball out of the infield and he certainly has been unable to
achieve a legitimate, non-infield hit. I don't mind Haynes being around
if his role is properly defined, but that he has already started twice
through three games indicates to me that it isn't. With three off days
in the past five, there was no need to rest anybody tonight.
- And because I don't want to end a night like tonight on a downer, I
want to highlight the performance of SS Jason Bartlett. I never viewed
Bartlett as much more than a throw-in byproduct of the Delmon Young
trade, and I assumed that he'd have one or two uneventful seasons here
before bowing out. He is quickly proving me wrong though. Through the
first three games, he has shown tremendous range, getting to balls that
Brendan Harris wouldn't have had a shot at. Considering the pitching
staff we have, that will be immensely invaluable. With Iwamura
complementing him on the right side of the infield, the Rays have a
middle infield duo that will be a threat to any ground ball. Now
obviously Bartlett's bat is quite another deal altogether, but the
negative affects of that bat should be neutralized by hitting him low
in the order. And if Bartlett can manage to be a decent hitter with
runners in scoring position, as he was this evening in hitting a
two-run single in the eighth, I can tolerate a .700 OPS year. Cheers to
Andrew Friedman for finding an underrated complementary piece to add to
the roster.
