Okay, with all the excitement from the weekend finally settling down and sinking in, it’s time for me to get back to the daily routine of covering the Tampa Bay Rays for you guys.
Pena hits game winning home run
The Tampa Bay Rays sure are making every effort to keep us on the edge of our seats this year. The Rays beat the Orioles in the 10th inning with a home run from Carlos Pena. The 8 -6 victory over the Orioles improved the Rays record to 5-3, good for third in the AL East behind the division leading Toronto Blue Jays at 6-2 an the New York Yankees at 5-2. The Rays will look to complete a sweep of the Orioles in the rubber game today at 1:35. The momentum of a sweep could be crucial for the Rays as they will face the Boston Red Sox for the first time this season starting on Friday.
We know that the Red Sox will be tough throughout the season, so wins early in the season while Boston is struggling will be very important for the Rays.
Shoppach sent to the DL
New catcher Kelly Shoppach was placed on the 15 day disabled list with what was termed as a “right knee sprain” following a collision at home plate with the Yankees Curtis Granderson earlier this week.
John Jaso–a personal favorite of mine–was called up from Durham to replace Shoppach.
Shoppach had started the season with the Rays batting .250 in 4 games, with no home runs or RBI’s and four strikeouts.
A prediction…
I think the Rays will earn their first sweep of the year, with today’s game against Baltimore. The Orioles have started the season a very sad 1-6–their only win was against the Rays, but that was what I consider to be an anomaly due to the freak injury to Jeff Niemann. With David Price on the mound today, I expect to see an 8 or 9 strike out game, and home runs from Evan Longoria & B.J. Upton.
Thomas Gemkow is the editor-in-chief of TampaBayRaysFan.com. Founded in January of 2009, TampaBayRaysFan.com is a compilation of all the best of the Rays, from across the web. The website can be followed on Twitter
