Sonnanstine impresses, Pena hits his 12th & Joyce is on fire.

Big day for the Rays against the Yankees last night, winning 4-3 in the 10th frame. Here are a few of the reasons why:

Andy Sonnanstine shines for first time this season

Days after my blog about how I think Andy Sonnanstine should be traded by mid season, he goes out and throws a gem, holding the New York Yankees to 2 runs in 7 innings of work.

I still stand firm in saying that we will only see Sonnanstine in a Rays uniform until the end of this season at the very latest, but any strong performances between now and then would not only help our cause tremendously, but also increase the potential value of the young right hander.

Yes, I know he is cheap, and yes I know he puts up work horse numbers and silently won 13 games last season, but eventually, the team will have to resign him, at a much larger amount than he makes now if he keeps that sort of performance up. He will NEVER be a staff ace, and we have one in the wings down on the farm in Durham with David Price and Wade Davis who had a great spring.

All that aside, Sonnanstine was stellar against the Bronx Bombers. Sonnanstine went 7.1 innings, giving up just 6 hits and allowing two runs while fanning four and dropping his ERA to 5.79 on the season.

Pena still leading the league in round trippers

Talk about coming through in the clutch, and you could define the phrase with two words : Carlos Pena.

The Gold Glove first baseman hit his 12th home run last night, against the Yankees in the top of the 10 inning to push the Rays to a 4-3 lead over their divisional foes.

When will the madness stop? Pena has been an absolute savage this year at the plate, and has shown no signs of slowing down. Should be interesting to watch down the stretch.

I am willing to take the massive amount of strikeouts he allows in return for a 50 home run season.

Sounds like Pena needs to take Pat Burrell out for a nice steak dinner for helping protect him in the lineup and making opposing pitchers have to pitch to him.

If only I could get the same performance out of him in my franchise on “MLB ‘09 The Show”

Durham outfielder on a power trip of his own

Looks like Matt Joyce is trying his best to make Andrew Friedman and Joe Maddon come up with a really really good excuse as to why he is not the starting right fielder for the Rays.

Joyce is batting .319 with three home runs and 11 RBIs and has show some serious pop as of late, drilling a home run on May 2nd & May 6th.

This sudden surge could prove to be important for Joyce and his future with the team. Their is no doubt that when we traded Edwin Jackson to Detroit for the talented young outfielder, that he was looked upon as the future in right field for the Rays.

With Desmond Jennings turning it on as of late, and Fernando Perez set to come off the DL later this year, Joyce will have some competition, so the sooner he can make his way into the outfield rotation for the Rays, the better chance he has of showing he can perform on a big league level day in and day out.

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