The Rays Tank: The Rays Did What??

Saturday, the Rays lose a game in which Kyle Kendrick was pitching and the offense generated six runs. The team had been 14-1 in games in which they scored six or more runs but they lost what was the most winnable game on paper of this series. Sunday puts up the challenge of facing two pitchers with FIP's in the top 12 of the National League that both happened to be left-handed while the Rays were in the bottom half of the league in terms of wRC+ and wOBA against those types of pitchers. On top of that, the second game of the series had the Rays starting a pitcher who had not started a major league game since 2009 or a minor league game since 2010.

Naturally, the Rays won both games. Never has a .500 week felt so good (more on that from Mr. Negative's weekly recap later this morning).

There is no rest for the weary as the 24-man roster heads to Kansas City to wrap up the road trip before coming home on Thursday to swim to Tropicana Field to host the Tigers. After a week of facing Gio Gonzalez, Stephen Strasburg, Cliff Lee, and Cole Hamels, the script flips a bit this week. The Royals will be throwing Luke Hochevar, Bruce Chen, and Vin Mazzaro to start off this week. If you have the cash and the time, you need to clear your schedule for Friday: Verlander vs Price at Tropicana Field. Plan ahead for that can't miss matchup.

Other news:

• We hope that all of our readers are not suffering too much from the Debbie Downer storm damage with flood waters, high winds, and tornadoes.
• Charlie Manuel doesn't want to hear from second guessers. In other news, Charlie Manuel can still hear at his age.
• Chris Jaffe looks at the BS surcharges fans incur when purchasing tickets these days. If a Rays fan wants to purchase the cheapest seats possible through the site and park on site for the game, that bill runs $34.05. $9 for the ticket, $5.25 in fees, and $20 to park (who parks on site??).
• Walk Like a Sabermatrician looks further into run distributions.
• Another Red Sox player leaves the nation - at least this time it was done with some class.
• Will R.A. Dickey change the game? Rob Neyer discusses
• So the Yankees have actually been better since Mariano Rivera got hurt?
• Check out the recent draftees signing board over at RaysProspects