The Rays Tank: Rough loss in Baltimore, Escobar remains

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>After all their talk about these being must-win games, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Rays?src=hash">#Rays</a> putting out one of their worst showings of late</p>&mdash; Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) <a href="https://twitter.com/TBTimes_Rays/statuses/504067486338543616">August 26, 2014</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

We can just forget that one. But you can never forget the photo above. That one's a framer!

Despite that brutal loss, and the fact that he plays for the Orioles, that was one helluva catch and play by Adam Jones:

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After quite the Yuni hate debating his worth over here, Joe Maddon assured Yunel Escobar that he wasn't going anywhere despite the rumor that the Athletics had claimed him off waivers this past weekend, and had hopes that the chatter wouldn't affect Escobar's mentality, or play:

"I was able to tell him that we're very, very pleased with what he's doing, we can see him continuing to get better with us, to not be worried about anything happening over the next day," Maddon said. "That's what I got from Andrew."

"I knew he was upset, it was obvious," Maddon said. "Yuni is really an emotional person and you have to understand what we're dealing with right here, and I think part of the reason he likes it here so much is because we do understand him. I was happy to have that conversation with him to make him feel better because it could impact his performance."

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Congrats are in order for the Durham Bulls, who (under manager Charlie Montoyo) have now won seven division titles in his eight years:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>If it&#39;s your 1st or 7th division crown, this never gets old. <a href="https://t.co/cokh5b86OU">https://t.co/cokh5b86OU</a></p>&mdash; Durham Bulls (@DurhamBulls) <a href="https://twitter.com/DurhamBulls/statuses/504086281069264896">August 26, 2014</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Links:

- Gather round, as Fangraphs tells a Tuesday tale entitled, "Joe Maddon's Bunting Identity Crisis."

- More time between pitches; does it lead to better results at the plate?

- Ahhhh, strikeouts. I'm with Sam Miller, I love a good high strikeout game. But do those strikeouts actually improve a baseball fan's experience? Yes, yes they do. (Okay, so maybe they don't, just read the article.)