Exclusive Rays coverage by Gary Shelton Sports

Snell finally puts a game together for Tampa Bay

July 1, 2019 general

Monday, 3 a.m. A winning streak? Whee! The surging (?) Tampa Bay Rays have won consecutive ballgames for the first time since June 9-10 against Boston and Oakland after Sunday’s 6-2 victory over the Texas Rangers. The Rays are now 5-8 over their last 13 games and were 13-16 in the month of June. The […]

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McKay is everything he was promised to be against Rangers

June 30, 2019 general

Sunday, 3 a.m. How many others? And which positions? For a long time now, we have heard their footsteps approaching, and we have heard the drums beat to signal the future. There are pitchers and catchers and outfielders and first basemen, and soon, they will finally arrive. And if they are anything like Brendan McKay, […]

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Sloppy performance dooms the Rays once again

June 29, 2019 general

Friday, 3 a.m. Bad pitching. Bad offense. Bad defense. All in all, it was a bad start to the Rays’ plan to close out the pre-All-Star break on a hot streak. The Rays dropped their eighth game in the last 12, losing a badly played 5-0 game to the Rangers Friday night. The loss left […]

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Rays call up two-way star McKay

June 29, 2019 general

Friday, 4 a.m. The future is shorter than you’d expect. Smaller. Nevertheless, in these precious non-Montreal days, it is here. Judging by the legend of Brendan McKay, you might have expected him to be a beast. Maybe 6-4. Maybe 260 pounds. After all, when you hear about a prospect coming, you expect large. You expect […]

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Rays play 18 innings before salvaging win against Twins

June 28, 2019 general

Friday, 3 a.m. For the Tampa Bay Rays, it took forever to win a baseball game. As rarely as that happens anymore, it was worth it. The Rays played for five hours and 42 minutes Thursday. They played for 18 innings  — two games worth — and used nine pitchers. Some of their hitters had […]

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Rays’ fall seven back with another loss to Twins

June 27, 2019 general

Thursday, 4 a.m. Their comeback didn’t take. Their best pitcher didn’t win. Their defense didn’t hold up. And so the Rays of Tampa Bay (for now) faded a little farther back in the AL East division competition on Wednesday night, dropping a 6-4 decision to the Minnesota Twins. The Rays are now 31-31 in their […]

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Sternberg makes his pitch to play in two cities at once

June 26, 2019 general

Wednesday, 2 a.m. Okay, let’s check the wish list of Rays’ owner Stu Sternberg, shall we? He wants to keep the market in Tampa Bay. But only part of the time. Also, he doesn’t want anyone to notice that, evidently, the Rays and Montreal have been talking even though their lease says they’re not supposed […]

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Snell embarrassed again in most recent assault

June 26, 2019 general

Wednesday, 4 a.m. Was last year a mirage? Did we dream it? Was it all slight-of-hand? A mass illusion? Was Blake Snell really that good s year ago? And if so, why he so embarrassingly bad this season?’ Snell continued to perform like the worst pitcher on the Rays’ staff, and one of the worst […]

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When will it be Tampa Bay’s time in the sun?

June 25, 2019 general

Tuesday, 4 a.m. A common draft suggests the home team has as many chances as the next one. A salary cap, which two of the three teams have, suggest that, eventually, things will even out. Shared TV revenues say that everyone has a shot at confetti. So when is it our turn? When does Tampa […]

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Who was that team? Rays batter the Oakland As

June 24, 2019 general

Monday, 4 a.m. Wait a minute. Is this legal? Are the Tampa Bay Rays really allowed to win one that isn’t close? Is it okay if they get good pitching out of the bullpen? Is it permissible if they get seven hits in a row? Is it legal for them to score eight runs over […]

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