Garza tossed no-hitter

Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Matt Garza tossed the first no-hitter in his career against the Detroit Tigers.

It was the first no-hitter in franchise history despite the fact the Rays had been no-hit four times before.

Garza said it was time that someone on the team threw a no-hitter to give everyone some confidence.

He faced the minimum 27 batters, allowing just one walk and striking out six. ( Read More…)

Wednesday, July 28, 2010 at 2:30 pm by steve

Tags: Rays news, Rays schedule, Rays tickets

Rays unlikely to make major deal

With the trade deadline rapidly approaching, it looks as though the Tampa Bay Rays are content with their current roster.

Despite the temptation to go make a big splash, the Rays will likely watch the deadline come and go without making a trade.

There has been some talk that the Rays should take a gamble and go for it all by acquiring Prince Fielder.

However, Fielder’s current price tag along with his impending free agency after the 2011 season make him a no-go for Tampa. ( Read More…)

Thursday, July 22, 2010 at 4:26 pm by steve

Tags: Rays news, Rays schedule, Rays tickets

Price rocked by Yankees

With David Price on the mound and Andy Pettitte out of the game early due to an injury, it appeared that things couldn’t shape up any better for the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday.

But somebody forgot to tell the New York Yankees’ bats.

The New York offense battered one of the AL’s best, tagging Price for seven runs in five innings in a 9-5 win to take the rubber game of the weekend series. ( Read More…)

Sunday, July 18, 2010 at 7:04 pm by Raj Sethi

Tags: tampa bay rays news, tampa bay rays schedule, tampa bay rays tickets

Tampa Bay Rays midseason review

The Tampa Bay Rays missed the playoffs last year, but the team is back to the baseball they were playing in 2008.

In fact, they might even be playing better than back then as the team is clicking on nearly all cylinders.

The Rays have marched their way into first place with a substantial cushion between them and the rest of the division. ( Read More…)

Tuesday, July 6, 2010 at 7:03 pm by steve

Tags: Rays news, Rays schedule, Rays tickets

Rays rally in ninth to clip Jays

The Tampa Bay Rays dug themselves out of a 5-run hole, rallying in the ninth inning for a 7-6 win over the Toronto Blue Jays after manager Joe Maddon was ejected.

Tampa Bay found itself trailing 5-3 heading into its last at-bat, but had runners on the corners with one out with Carlos Pena at the plate. With two strikes, Pena called for timeout but wasn’t awarded one by umpire Angel Hernandez, and an unprepared Pena struck out looking. Maddon rushed out of the dugout to argue and was promptly tossed by Hernandez.

Without their leader and down to their final out, the Rays found a way to escape the jaws of defeat. Toronto closer Kevin Gregg walked two consecutive batters to shrink the lead to one, and then Sean Rodriguez hit a bases-clearing double to give the Rays a 7-5 lead. Gregg walked a career-high five batters in the inning while surrendering just a single hit, and was ejected for yelling at Hernandez on his way to the dugout after being taken out of the game by manager Cito Gaston.

Vernon Wells pulled the Blue Jays within one with an RBI double, but Rays closer Rafael Soriano earned his 15th save in 15 chances by getting Jose Bautista to fly out to end the game.

The bullpen wasted a terrific performance by Toronto starter Brian Tallet, who came off the disabled list to pitch 5 2/3 shutout innings.

Grant Balfour got the win in relief for Tampa Bay. Rookie starter Jeff Niemann was bailed out after his worst outing of the season, surrendering nine hits and five runs in 6 1/3 innings.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010 at 9:23 am by Raj Sethi

Price hurls complete-game shutout

The Tampa Bay Rays keep on rolling. Behind a stellar effort from David Price, the Rays cruised to a 6-0 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday to win the weekend series.

The young, talented Price recorded the first complete game of his career, limiting the Blue Jays to just four hits on the afternoon. He struck out nine and walked one, needing 109 pitches to close it out.

Price was supported by a big eighth inning from his offense. Tampa Bay scored four runs in the inning to blow the game open, on the strength of RBI hits by Evan Longoria and Carlos Pena and a pinch-hit double from Jason Bartlett.

John Jaso also provided production from the catcher’s spot for the second straight game. After homering and knocking in three yesterday, he went 2-for-3 with 2 RBI on Sunday.

Sunday, April 25, 2010 at 4:54 pm by Raj Sethi

Rays to get R. Soriano

The Tampa Bay Rays have acquired reliever Rafael Soriano in a deal with the Atlanta Braves.

In exchange, the Rays have sent the Braves pitcher Jesse Chavez.

Atlanta liked Soriano but didn’t want to pay his salary this year after already bringing in a couple of free agent relievers.

Soriano closed 27 games for the Braves last year, and the Rays are hopeful he can help sure up a bullpen that cost them a postseason berth in 2009.

It’s unknown whether or not Soriano will be the closer with the Rays, but Troy Percival is no longer a reliable option.

Saturday, December 12, 2009 at 9:27 am by steve

Could Rays move Crawford at Winter Meetings?

By Bud L. Ellis

The Hot Stove is fired up, and Carl Crawford is the hottest ember as baseball heads to the Winter Meetings next week in Indianapolis.

The Tampa Bay left fielder very well may be traded during the gathering of GMs and baseball execs. Even with the talk of Crawford inking a long-term deal with the Rays, there will be plenty of speculation the speedy outfielder will be with another organization once the meetings adjourn.

The Rays picked up Crawford’s option for 2010 in the days following the end of the 2009 season, at a price tag of $10 million. And while there is quite a lot of evidence suggesting Crawford will be in the Rays’ lineup come opening day, his skill set makes him a highly sought-after piece of some team’s puzzle.

Trading Crawford would allow the Rays to land valuable parts to reconstruct a roster that fell short of the playoffs last season, one year after Tampa Bay won the 2008 AL pennant and advanced to its first World Series in franchise history.

Crawford hit .305 in 156 games last season, with 15 homers, 68 RBIs and a career-high 60 stolen bases. Defensively, he’s one of the better outfielders in baseball with his speed, and many teams would love to have him in their fold come next season.

But will that happen? Stay tuned.

—30—

Wednesday, December 2, 2009 at 11:00 pm by bud

Tags: Carl Crawford, Major League Baseball, Tampa Bay Rays

Rays acquire Shoppach

The Tampa Bay Rays have acquired catcher Kelly Shoppach in a trade with the Cleveland Indians.

In return, the Rays sent the Indians a player-to-be-named-later.

The Rays and Shoppach are both hopeful that he can return to his 2008 form when he led American League catchers in home runs.

Shoppach will provide the team valuable depth at the catcher position and some competition for Dioner Navarro.

The team was not happy with Navarro’s work ethic at times last year and hope the move pushes him to play better.

at 7:47 pm by steve

Rays pick up Crawford’s option

The Tampa Bay Rays have exercised the $10 million option of outfielder Carl Crawford for the 2010 season.

Had they not picked it up, the Rays would have had to pay Crawford a $1.25 million buyout.

It was a pretty easy decision to keep Crawford around, but monetary decisions aren’t always easy on the cash-strapped Rays.

Crawford is widely considered one of the top leadoff hitters in the game due to his unique blend of power and speed.

He led the league in stolen bases last year while also hitting over .300 and playing great defense.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009 at 1:40 pm by steve