There are times when the starting pitching is sturdy, when the relief pitching plays its role, when there is enough hitting.
On such nights, the Rays seem to make sense. They hint there are nights when they can compete. On such nights. even the rich kids can beware.
The Rays held on to beat the first-place New York Yankees Friday night at Tropicana Field, 3-2. The Rays put together nine hits (and five walks) offensively, and relied on starting pitcher Steven Matz, who ran his record to 3-0 with the win.
Matz gave up only two hits through five hits. He struck out seven.
Four Rays relievers held the Yankees to one run. Bryan Baker recorded his second save. As a staff, the Rays had 12 strikeouts.
Yandy Diaz had two hits, including his third home run of the season. Catcher Nick Fortes also had two hits.
The Rays are at the Trop again tonight (6:10 p.m.). Nick Martinez will pitch for the Rays against Max Fried.
Usually, a team imagines itself entering on a hot streak. The goalie is magical, the offense is explosive, the defense is bulletproof.
Alas, it isn't that way for the Tampa Bay Lightning, who lost their third straight game Thursday night, 2-1 to Montreal. The Bolts dropped to third place in the Atlantic Division with the loss.
For the Bolts, disaster came quickly. The Bolts tied the game with just 1:51 to play on a goal by Darren Raddysh. Montreal, however, took advantage of a Bolts' turnover and scored the winner on a goal by Jaraj Slafkovsky 47 seconds later.
The Canadiens got their 50th goal from Cole Caufield.
The Bolts managed just 18 shots -- 10 in the first two periods -- in the defeat.
The Bolts killed all seven power plays it faced. Montreal killed the four they had.
Tampa Bay had 71 penalty minutes. Montreal had 55.
Bolts' goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 18 of 21 shots.
The Bolts play the Boston Bruins Saturday at 12:30 p.m. at TD Garden.
They would have you believe that it was just an off night. But then, haven't too many nights been off for the Tampa Bay Rays?
They use words like aberration, like uncharacteristic. Then they go out and do it again.
And again.
The Rays were hammered again Wednesday night at Tropicana Field, 6-2 by Chicago, and it went the way too many nights have gone for the Rays.
Were their three errors a fluke? No. It was the third time this season the Rays had committed three errors in one game. The Rays lead the majors in most errors with 14.
Were the six runs allowed a one-off? No. The Rays have now allowed six or more runs in eight games this year. The Rays are 27th in the league in most runs allowed.
This time, the culprit was the fifth inning. The Rays entered the inning in a 1-1 tie, but then came the sloppiness. The Rays gave up five runs, three hits, two walks and committed three errors in the inning.
Starting pitcher Joe Boyle had given up just two hits before the fifth, but he ended up giving up five earned runs on four hits.
For the Rays, Jonathan Aranda had two of the team's five hits.
The Rays are off today, then host the New York Yankees at Tropicana for three games starting Friday at 7:10 p.m. Steven Matz will start for the Rays against Max Fried.
Perhaps they should build a moat around home plate.
Perhaps they should keep guard dogs around third.
Perhaps they should build speed bumps around second.
Whatever it takes, the Tampa Bay Rays need to slow down the traffic on the bases if they're going be a team that matters.
The Rays were drubbed by the Chicago Cubs Tuesday night, 9-2. In the 11 games the Rays have played this season, they've given up six runs or more in seven of them.
Perhaps the Rays had a slim chance when they had to scratch starting pitcher Drew Rasmussen. Rasmussen's wife is late in her pregnancy.
That left Mason Englert as the starter, and he gave up seven hits and four runs (three earned) in 3 2/3 innings. Relievers Cole Susler (one run in 2 13 innings) and Yoendrys Gomez (four runs in three innings) added to the implosion.
Cubs starter Javier Asasad, a fill-in starter himself, allowed just one hit and no runs in 5 2/3 innings.
Chandler Simpson got the first hit, a borderline call on a grounder the Cubs' fumbled. Simpson and Jonathan Aranda each had two of the Rays' six hits.
The Rays and Cubs play again tonight at 6:40 p.m. at Tropicana Field. Joe Boyle will start for the Rays against Colin Rea.
Wednesday, 3 a.m. Suddenly, the road looks dark and dangerous. No longer does the Tampa Bay Lightning look electric with a map in their hands. The Bolts, one of the NHL’s best teams away from home this year, were battered once again Tuesday night. A five-goal third period lifted the Ottawa Senators to a 6-2 […]
Tuesday, 4 a.m. Welcome back, boys. After 561 days away, the Tampa Bay Rays returned to Tropicana Field Monday afternoon. In a lot of ways, it was worth the wait. The Rays beat the Chicago Cubs 6-4. It was their third straight victory. After a horrible start, the Rays’ pitching has given up just 10 […]
Tuesday, 3 a.m. These days, the Tampa Bay Lightning is having a little trouble keeping up with the Buffalo Sabres. For the third straight meeting, the Sabres got the best of the Lightning 4-2 at the KeyBank Center. Buffalo, which tied the Lightning atop the NHL Atlantic Division, has totaled 18 goals in the three […]
Monday, 4 a.m. Turns out, it isn’t so hard to mount a winning streak. Even for the Tampa Bay Rays. All it takes is great starting pitching, strong relief pitching and timely hitting from an unlikely source. Just like that, and the Rays have won two in a row. The Rays, 4-5 on the season, […]
Sunday, 5 a.m. For the Tampa Bay Rays, the first seven days of the basball season was an uphill walk across broken glass. It was hard to look at, hard to find clues that anything will be different. Then came Saturday, and a welcome easy victory. The Rays, 3-5, had a day when everything worked […]
Sunday, 4 a.m. Even indoors, the Boston Bruins can’t keep the Lightning out of the passing lane. The Lightning capped off a successful home stand (5-1-1) with a 3-1 win over Boston at Benchmark International Arena. It wasn’t quite as dramatic as the Bolts 6-5 win over Boston in the outdoor game at Raymond James […]
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About Gary Shelton
• No one covers Tampa Bay like Gary Shelton.
• No one has seen as many moments, as many athletes, as many coaches as he has over the last quarter of a century.
• No one has won more awards, including two national Associated Press Sports Editors Best Columnist awards and eight top 10 finishes. He also just received his sixth Sportswriter of the Year award for Florida by the NSSA.
• No one has seen more big events, including 29 Super Bowls, 10 Olympics and 11 Final Fours. Gary still goes into the locker rooms to obtain his stories.
• No one has made you angrier, or laugh louder, or think harder about what he has written.
Now, he begins a website designed to keep him in touch with the readers who have grown up on his words.
