pitching

Rays’ starting pitching finally showing up

August 18, 2016 general

Thursday, 6 a.m. Suddenly, they are hitting like crazy. Squint, or you might mistake them for Murderer’s Row. They have taken on the better aspects of the Big Red Machine. They might be the Gashouse Gang. Okay, okay. At least, they are better than what we are used to seeing from the Tampa Bay Rays. […]

Tagged as: Archer, Odorizzi, pitching, Rays

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Smyly gives Rays another quality start vs. Yankees

July 31, 2016 general

Sunday, 5:30 a.m. Finally, Drew Smyly is smiling again. Smyly finally won another game, his first since mid-May, as the Rays beat the New York Yankees Saturday. Smyly had gone 0-7 over his last 11 starts for the Rays. On Saturday, however, he threw six innings of four-hit, two-run baseball for the Rays’ 10th straight […]

Tagged as: pitching, Rays, Smyly, Yankees

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Odorizzi keeps decent pitching going for Rays

July 30, 2016 general

Saturday, 5:30 a.m. How competitive might the Tampa Bay Rays have been if they had had decent starting pitching all along? Maybe, they would have looked something like this. The Rays have won six of their last 11 games (after going 3-24 in their previous 27) with nine straight quality starts by their starting rotation. […]

Tagged as: Odorizzi, pitching, Rays, Yankees

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What should the Rays do with Chris Archer?

June 23, 2016 general

Thursday, 5:45 a.m. Did someone say “ace?” These days, Chris Archer is a trey. Maybe a duece. Maybe a joker. These days, Archer is a bad pitcher. Not mediocre. Not slumping. Bad. On a night when the Rays needed Archer to say “enough,” when they needed him to hold up his hand and say “stop” […]

Tagged as: Archer, pitching, Rays, Skid

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Is Archer the pitcher that Hickey can’t figure out?

June 2, 2016 general

Thursday, 6 a.m. He harnessed Matt Garza’s hot head. There for a while, Garza was likely to blow his cool on the mound, and there for a while, his career threatened to go, too. He managed James Shields’ stubbornness. Shields was a battler, but there were times that his competitiveness could blind him to his […]

Tagged as: Archer, Hickey, pitching, Rays

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Pitching still needs to define this Rays team

May 27, 2016 general

Friday, 5:45 a.m. The hitting has been better lately, but the Tampa Bay Rays are not exactly known as a hitting club. The defense has its nights, but the Rays aren’t exactly known as a fielding team. It isn’t a baserunning team. It isn’t a slick team or a fast team or a closing team. […]

Tagged as: Pedestrian, pitching, Rays, Strength

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Rays’ Hickey has to work his magic again

February 26, 2016 general

Friday, 6 a.m. The years go by, and he gets smarter. These days, there is something you trust about Jim Hickey, the most accomplished man in a Tampa Bay Rays’ uniform. He is the Svengali, the mentor, the teacher. He can take a questionable pitching staff and turn it into something that works. Year after […]

Tagged as: Archer, Hickey, pitching, Rays

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Ask Gary: And the champ of college football is …

December 12, 2015 general

(Each week, the readers take over GarySheltonsports.com and play Ask Gary. They send in a question, or a couple, and we all talk about the world of sports.  Think of it as a radio show where you don’t have to be on hold. Join us and ask a question, make a comment or be funny. Send the […]

Tagged as: Bucs' attendance, Champion, pitching, Rays

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Surprising Rays in first place despite defeat

May 23, 2015 general

Saturday, 8:53 p.m. This is a first place team? There are days, lots of them, when they cannot hit. Even against the worst team in the American League, the Oakland A’s, the Tampa Bay Rays did a lot of swinging and missing in a 5-0 defeat Saturday. The defense is usually top-notch. But not Saturday, […]

Tagged as: AL East, Archer, Cash, defense, First Place, Jaso, Jennings, pitching, Rays

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Cash parties like he’s going to win another 99

April 8, 2015 general

Wednesday, 11:45 p.m. ST. PETERSBURG It was loud. It was wild. It was boisterous. Kevin Cash had heard about moments like this, how unbridled the Rays were when they had a victory to celebrate. And now, this was his celebration, and he was in the middle of it. It was dark. It was loose. It […]

Tagged as: celebration, defense, Odorizzi, pitching, Rays, walks

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