The struggling New York Yankees have let the AL East get a little to tight. They are now tied with the Tampa Bay Rays  for the division lead.
The Yankees have gone just 5-5 in their last ten games while the Rays have been hot. Tampa has won nine of their last ten including taking two of three from the Yankees.
It’s been a variety of issues for the Yankees of late. …

Yankees manager Joe Girardi  was impressed enough to say he may have found a replacement in the starting rotation until Andy Pettitte  returns from injury.
Dustin Moseley did enough to earn another start after throwing six innings of one run ball in his first starts since last April. The righty has battled back through an arm and hip surgery.
While he said he “felt calm from the get-go,” Moseley admitted he may …

The American League East had looked a bit strange for much of the beginning of the 2010 baseball season. The Tampa Bay Rays  have been on top since the start. At many points, they had a significant lead over the rest of the division. That has since changed.
The Toronto Blue Jays  had been rolling early on and making everyone believe the division would …

The New York Yankees have the second best record in baseball as of today. The only team with a better one is the Tampa Bay Rays. The two American League East  teams start a big two game series tonight at Yankee Stadium.
How can a two game series be such a big deal? Well, maybe not so much for the Rays, but it is a big series for the Yankees. Entering …

Recently, I was asked to review MLB 2k10. As you can imagine, I was honored by this request, and jumped at the chance to review a baseball game that features Tampa Bay Rays superstar Evan Longoria as the cover athlete.
Longoria being the cover athlete is a gigantic leap in the right direction for not only putting Longoria on the face of baseball for today’s youth, but also, helping to put …

Newly acquired catch Kelly Shoppach will be out “at least 4 to 6 weeks” after undergoing knee surgery.
Shoppach was injured during a collision at home plate. The Rays were hoping for Shoppach to provide some offensive pop from the catcher position this season, but so far the incumbent Dioner Navarro has outperformed Shoppach in some aspects of his game.
Shoppach was acquired from the Cleveland Indians in a trade that sent …

The bottom of the 5th innings saw Matt Hall get hit by a pitch just as the rain started pouring down. I am not kidding when I say pouring either. The rain I saw on the way to the ball park did not compare to this down pour. At 8:11 with 2 outs in the home half of the 5th inning the rain delay began. Both teams have left to …

Pitching with the lead De Los Santos was no less effective. He sent down Paul Gran and Robert Taylor to open the inning before allowing a base hit to right fielder Isaac Galloway. With left fielder Hunter Mense (not to be confused with Hunter Pence) up at bat, De Los Santos picked off his second runner of the night to end the inning. Jupiter manager Ron Hassey took to the …

After another 1-2-3 inning from De Los Santos, left fielder Kyeong Kang led the bottom of the 4th for the Crabs. Kang was batting .318 coming into tonights game. He gave the Crabs their first hit of the night when he deposited a ball about 320 feet into the left field corner for a stand up double. Henry Wrigley followed with a line drive single and wisely Kang was held …

After getting two quick outs the number nine hitter, shortstop Emilio Ontiveros got the first (non infield) of the night for the ‘Heads. This brings up centerfielder Kevin Mattison from the left side. Jupiter went with the hit and run, but Mattison was unable to put one in play. With Ontiveros still at first Mattison struck out swinging for out number 3. Through 3 innings De Los Santos has thrown …

Frank De Los Santos sent the Hammerheads down in order quickly. In the bottom half 3rd baseman Henry Wrigley grounded out to his counterpart for the first out. Designated hitter Matt Sweeney hit a high pop up in front of the pitchers mound. The ‘Heads first and third baseman nearly collided waiting for the ball to drop, but it did for out number two. Catcher Jake Jeffries lined out to …

The first pitch occured right on schedule. After an hour drive to beautiful Port Charlotte I made it to the Crabs Stadium. Through Venice I saw a lot of rain and got very nervous, but it is bright and sunny as can be. A perfect night and my view from the press box behind home plate is absolutely PERFECT. The top half of the inning was quick and painless. Starter …

Last night the Crabs fell to the Hammerheads of Jupiter 2-1 in extra innings. Tonight Frank De Los Santos will be on the mound for the Crabs againts those same Sharks. Ideally the Crabs bats will wake up and a new winning streak will begin. I will be posting inning by inning so check it out! Go Crabs!

Dave Scheiber of FoxSportsFlorida.com took a quick look at the sudden resurgence of Pat Burrell at the plate.
So has Pat Burrell finally started to awaken from his era of slumbering lumber?
It will take more time to know for sure, but judging from his recent efforts, the signs are intriguing. What began quietly a week ago with a few singles in a loss to the Yankees became an exclamation point Saturday …

The Tampa Bay Rays have done something this season that they have never done in their franchise history–start the season 6-3 thru the first nine games.
Dave Scheiber of FoxSportsFlorida.com takes a look at this unprecedented feat…
The Rays find themselves in uncharted territory today: the first time in their 13 seasons that they’ve won five of the opening eight games. But the stunning manner in which the team got there Tuesday …

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 …

If you are an avid reader of this blog, you may have noticed that it has been left neglected the last few days.
For this I apologize, I always hate letting down my readers, especially if you are itching to check out this page for your daily Tampa Bay Rays news.
However, the reason for the neglect is actually a very good one.
At around 11pm on Thursday, April 13th, I found out …

Bill Chastain of MLB.com reports the following:
ST. PETERSBURG — Jeff Niemann left Thursday night’s game against Baltimore after taking a shot off his right shoulder.
Miguel Tejada, leading off the Orioles’ second against the 6-foot-9 right-hander, hit a ball up the middle that caught Niemann square on the back of the shoulder. The ball then ricocheted to Carlos Pena at first for the unusual 1-3 putout.
Niemann appeared …

In our ongoing series to see just how accurate the Living Rosters feature is on MLB 2k10, we have simulated what the Rays and Orioles game should look like.
According to the simulation from MLB 2k10, the Rays will close out the series with the Orioles with yet another win, beating Balitmore 5-4.
So far, the computer has been inaccurate, selecting the Orioles to win the first game, with results of the …

The Tampa Bay Rays are going into tonight’s game looking to sweep the Orioles. After winning two close games the Rays are hoping to down Brian Matusz and the Orioles in an impressive fashion tonight, so they can carry some momentum in to face the always tough New York Yankees in the next series. But before we talk about that…on to the Daily Mashup!
Predictions that reign true…
Before yesterday’s games, I …