Rays look to defend AL East title

By Bud L. Ellis

It has taken time, but the Tampa Bay Rays at long last have solidified themselves as a powerhouse in the ultra-tough American League East.

The Rays made it to the playoffs for the second time in three seasons in 2010, winning an AL-best 96 games and capturing the East title. Tampa Bay ran into a buzzsaw in the AL Division Series, falling to eventual AL pennant winner Texas. ( Read More…)

Friday, March 25, 2011 at 10:51 pm by bud

Tags: Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, David Price, Evan Longoria, Johnny Damon, Major League Baseball, Manny Ramirez, New York Yankees, tampa bay rays news, tampa bay rays schedule, tampa bay rays tickets, Texas Rangers

Rays sign Ramirez

Veteran slugger Manny Ramirez has finally found a new home, and it looks like he will be going up against an old friend on a regular basis.

The Tampa Bay Rays have signed Ramirez to a one-year contract worth just $2 million, which seems crazy cheap for a player of his caliber.

That said, Ramirez has  been a clubhouse problem the past few years, had trouble avoiding significant injuries, and has seen his power production slip.

Ramirez is likely to be the team’s designated hitter, and they are hopeful he can make up for some of the power production lost when Carlos Pena and Carl Crawford signed elsewhere.

Interestingly enough, Ramirez will have an old friend with him from his days with the Boston Red Sox, with Johnny Damon also signing a deal with the Rays.

Saturday, January 22, 2011 at 8:58 am by steve

Tags: Rays news, Rays schedule, Rays tickets

Rays trade Garza to Cubs

The Tampa Bay Rays have traded pitcher Matt Garza to the Chicago Cubs for five minor league players.

Garza said he was caught off guard by all of the rumors about a trade floating around, but that he just let it take care of itself.

The right-hander can’t be displeased about heading over the National League, where his numbers are sure to get significantly better.

He also might be going to the better team after watching the Rays lose Carl Crawford and Carlos Pena in the offseason. ( Read More…)

Thursday, January 13, 2011 at 8:22 pm by steve

Tags: Rays news, Rays schedule, Rays tickets

Rays win A.L. East

Thanks to a loss by the New York Yankees, the Tampa Bay Rays have clinched the American League East division title.

By winning the division title, the Rays will open up the playoffs by squaring off against the Texas Rangers.

The Rays have the advantage when it comes to starting pitching and the bullpen, but Texas is the better hitting club.

With that said, the Rangers are not nearly the same team if Josh Hamilton can’t overcome his rib injury. ( Read More…)

Monday, October 4, 2010 at 6:10 pm by steve

Tags: Rays news, Rays schedule, Rays tickets

Rays just one game back of Yankees

The Tampa Bay Rays were notably quiet as the trade deadline came and went this weekend. Despite being linked to the likes of Adam Dunn, the team decided to stand pat, only adding reliever Chad Qualls from Arizona.

But from the look of it, the Rays plan on making all their noise on the field.

Behind James Shields’ brilliant performance, Tampa Bay took the rubber game of a three-game series with the New York Yankees, 3-0. The win pulled the Rays to within one game of the AL East leaders and defending World Series champions.

Shields went seven innings, shutting out the league’s best offense and striking out 11 en route to his 10th win of the season. ( Read More…)

Sunday, August 1, 2010 at 5:01 pm by Raj Sethi

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

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