Soriano Makes #1 of the Top Closers of 2010
Four out of the top five closers come as no surprise. The shocker is number one, he has always been known as a good relief pitcher, but I don’t think anyone expected him to be the top closer of 2010 so far this year.
1. Rafael Soriano, Tampa Bay Rays: Soriano is the best closer of 2010 so far. Soriano is a converted closer. Last year with the Braves was Soriano’s first season as a closer and he did pretty well with 27 saves in 31 opportunities. The Rays were extremely desperate for a closer this season and took a gamble with Soriano. That gamble has certainly paid off. Soriano already has 23 saves this season and only one blown save. On top of that, Soriano’s ERA is 1.65. If Soriano holds his ERA under two by the end of the season, it will be the first time he does that since 2003 when he was a setup man for the Mariners. The Rays never had a dominate closer since they have become a franchise. If the Rays had a closer like Soraino two years ago when they were in the World Series, they might have won those close games. Instead the Rays were forced to use their best relief pitcher at the time, J.P. Howell, who lost both of the close games.
The Rays were in first place for most of the season so far, but have fallen back a little. The Rays still have the second best record in baseball, but they are behind the best team in baseball who is in their division, the Yankees. The Red Sox are also right in the race, only one game back from the Rays. If Soriano keeps up at this pace, he can help the Rays win the close games. Right now Soriano is pitching better than Rivera, who has been injured off and on and Papelbon who is having a little bit of an off year with a 3.71 ERA. The Rays have a good chance of making back to the playoffs this year.
Click here to read the full article – Top Closers of 2010 – By Eric Heyer of Sports Fan Blog Network
David Price Makes #2 of the Best Starting Pitchers of 2010
This year is the first year in a long time that starting pitchers are dominating more than hitters. ERA’s are so low this year for many pitchers, which made it very hard to pick a top five. A lot of people probably know who number one is going to be, but the other four can be anyone’s guess.
2. David Price, Tampa Bay Rays: At the age of 25, Price is proving to be the Rays ace. Two years ago when Price entered the league at the end of the 2008 season, the Rays were expecting him to be their future ace. Price shined in the ALCS as the Rays closer beating the Red Sox. Last year Price moved into the rotation and had just an all right season going 10-7 with a 4.42 ERA. This year Price is now what the Rays expected two years ago. This year Price is the ace. Price is 11-3 with a 2.44 ERA and 84 strikeouts. Price just needed a little time to develop and is now helping the Rays stay in contention in the tough AL East. The Rays were the best team in baseball for the first two and a half months of the season. They fell back a little bit, giving the lead to the Yankees and also letting the Red sox pass them. I think the Rays just need a rest and they will get that in a few weeks when the all-star break rolls around. The Rays are still very much in the race for first, they are only three games back and have the fourth best record in baseball. Like I said with the Red Sox, the Rays still have a lot of games against the Red Sox and Yankees which will determine who is the best team not just in the division but, probably in all of baseball.
Click here for the full list at: Around the Diamond: Top Five Starting Pitchers of 2010
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Garza extends mastery of Orioles, Crawford and Brignac homer to lead Rays to 5-1 win
Matt Garza allowed one run in eight innings for the Tampa Bay Rays in another sparkling performance against the Baltimore Orioles, and Carl Crawford went 4 for 4 with a homer in a 5-1 victory Monday night.
The game drew 9,129 fans, the smallest crowd in the 19-year history of Camden Yards.
Reid Brignac also homered for the Rays in their first road game of the season.
Felix Pie connected for the Orioles, who fell to 1-6 with their fourth straight loss. Baltimore has scored only three runs in its last three games.
Garza (2-0) gave up six hits, struck out five and walked three in beating the Orioles for the second time this season. The right-hander is 8-1 lifetime against Baltimore, including 5-0 with a 3.00 ERA in six career starts at Camden Yards.
Click here to read the full article – By DAVID GINSBURG of Associated Press
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Slow start, tough finish frame Rays’ 2009
And they looked so good on paper.
Unfortunately for the Rays, a year after winning the American League East and advancing to the World Series, they found out there is quite a difference between looking good on paper and being a championship team.
“It’s pretty disappointing,” James Shields said. “We had some high hopes for this season. To end our season the way we did, it’s not us. We have got to get better. We’ve got to reassess what we did this season and try to get better next year.”
When the Rays left Port Charlotte, Fla., at the end of Spring Training, they looked far more solid than the previous year’s AL championship team. Unfortunately for Tampa Bay, some of the players brought in to improve the club did not produce. The most notable of these being designated hitter Pat Burrell, who banked a two-year, $16 million deal, then fell far short of expectations. In addition, there were regular players such as Dioner Navarro and B.J. Upton, whose performances were less than inspiring.
But no one player can be blamed for a 2009 season in which the team seemed out of sync from the beginning. Foreshadowing a season to come, the Rays finished April with a 9-14 record, then spent the rest of the season trying to make up for their less-than-auspicious beginning.
Click here to read the full article – By Bill Chastain of MLB.com
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Finishing strong, Rays get win No. 81
Rays clinch non-losing season with 81st victory
ST. PETERSBURG — There will not be a postseason in Tampa Bay, but there will not be a losing record, either.
The Tampa Bay Rays did take a step back after their magical run to the World Series in 2008, but they didn’t slide back into their sorry past.
Tuesday’s 3-1 win against the free-falling Baltimore Orioles in front of 10,349, the smallest home crowd of the season, guaranteed that.
It was win No. 81 for the Rays. They need one victory in their final five games to clinch only the second winning season in their 12-year history.
“That’s we want to do,” left fielder Carl Crawford said. “We want to at least finish on a positive note and have a winning record. Two winning years in a row with this organization never happened, so that’s good for us as we continue to move forward as an organization.”
Click here to read the full article – By ROGER MOONEY of Bradenton.com
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Rookie trio brightens future for Rays
Because he was pitching against the Blue Jays that day, David Price needed to find someone else to complete his new pregame routine. Price, Tampa Bay’s rookie left-hander and recently appointed lineup card attendee, had to designate someone else to bring the card to the umpires before the day’s first pitch.
Price decided on Wade Davis, his quiet, sharp-eyed, square-jawed fellow rookie starter.
After Davis returned to the dugout, home-plate umpire Mike Estabrook walked to Rays manager Joe Maddon and whispered that he’d never seen anything like it.
“[Davis] didn’t say one word,” Maddon said, laughing in his office after the game.
Such is the deadpan reality of Davis. There are few aspects in baseball he doesn’t take seriously.
As the 24-year-old right-hander has emerged over the course of the past two weeks for Tampa Bay, the seriousness of his pitching ability has also rounded into focus. The fierceness of his breaking ball only matches the looks he gives when squinting over his glove on the mound.
Click here to read the full article – By Zach Schonbrun of MLB.com
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Rays’ rookie starters will finish out year
With an off-day on the horizon Monday, the Rays have not set their rotation past Sunday. But don’t expect a lot of change, particularly where the rookie pitchers are concerned.
Currently, the rotation includes rookies Jeff Niemann, Wade Davis and David Price, but Rays manager Joe Maddon doesn’t believe any of them will be shut down before the end of the season.
“We’re OK with all three right now,” Maddon said. “They’re all on the border, on the top side of the borderline, so we can, but we’re not overtly concerned right now.”
Davis has thrown a total of 168 1/3 innings, Niemann 165 2/3, and Price 144.
Click here to read the full article – By Bill Chastain of MLB.com
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Burrell frustrated by Rays’ recent woes
Pat Burrell allowed Monday that the he let the frustrations accrued during the past 11 games to finally boil over in the Rays’ second game of their doubleheader with the Red Sox on Sunday.
Burrell was sent to the plate to pinch-hit in the eighth inning and tried to check his swing with two strikes, but was called out by home-plate umpire Lance Barksdale. Burrell argued that he had checked his swing, which prompted Barksdale to quickly eject Burrell.
“I was dead wrong, I knew I was out, I swung,” Burrell said.
Burrell is mired in a 1-for-19 stretch during the road trip that has seen the Rays lose all seven games they have played to move their losing streak to 11 before defeating the Orioles, 8-4, on Monday night in Baltimore.
Click here to read the full article – By Bill Chastain of MLB.com
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Niemann’s come long way since debut
On one hand, Jeff Niemann’s first trip to Baltimore this season wasn’t a precursor for things to come, while on the other, it personified why the 6-foot-9, 280-pound right-hander is a leading candidate for American League Rookie of the Year.
Niemann had just won a Spring Training battle with Jason Hammell to be the fifth starter in the Rays’ rotation and he wanted to go out and make a strong impression in his first start to validate the Rays’ faith in him. Instead he got off to the worst of all possible starts. The first seven Orioles hitters reached base safely as Niemann surrendered five first-inning runs, including a grand slam to Melvin Mora.
Click here to read the full article – By Bill Chastain of MLB.com
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Tampa Bay Rays say they’re set to return to top of AL East next season
Of all the Rays accomplished last season, winning the American League East championship was the achievement they were most proud of because it signified they were the best — and thus better than the Yankees and Red Sox — over the rigors of a full season.
Sunday, when they were officially dethroned in being eliminated from the race by the Yankees, they spoke of rededicating themselves to prevail again.
“Our goal coming into this season was to defend our American League East crown,” executive VP Andrew Friedman said. “Obviously we fell short of that.
“With our recent skid I think the focus is going to be much more on how we’ve played the last two weeks as opposed to the body of work and the talent we have on hand.
Click here to read the full article – By Marc Topkin of tampabay.com
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