"Who Knew?"

"...And when did they know it?"   The interesting question posed by Mike and Mike on this morning's show as baseball fans boned up on one of the game's new rules allowing for the suspension of tied World Series games.  Tell you what.  This fan had no clue that the Rays weren't playing for their baseball lives in the top of the 6th. Apparently, Carlos Pena also thought it was do or die time with 2 outs, BJ Upton on second and the Phillie's leading 2-1.  So he did.  Pena laced a ball through to center just out of Rollins reach, and BJ navigated the inch deep pools surrounding third base well enough to beat the throw home and tie the game at two.

As the world drew a collective breath, the tarps finally went on the field. By the time the umpiring crew deemed the field unplayable, the rain was coming down in half frozen sheets on a 39 degree night. Drenched players were in Flaps Down mode in their new Elmer Fudd caps. And there was no end in sight. For what it's worth, I think MLB got this one right.  Try to get the game in and do the right thing when the field becomes an icerink.

It seems that the tied game triggered the new rule, but MLB Commissioner Bud Selig said he would have invoked an indefinite rain delay to ensure all 9 innings were played.  Apparently this issue was discussed at length with both teams prior to Game 3 which started 90 minutes late due to weather. For whatever reason, the teams kept that info under their hats and the players were unaware last night.  It explains why Joe Maddon wasn't feeling the excrutiating pain of Kazmir's 6th walk quite as keenly as the rest of us. He knew it would be a 9 inning game.  And it may have put a charge in Pena's bat and the run they needed to stay in this thing.

The suspended game is set to resume in the bottom of the 6th tonight at 8pm EDT but the forecast calls for more rain.  If necessary, the game will be completed tomorrow. Or whenever it clears up in Philly.  A Rays win brings the Series back to The Trop. She and her lovely teflon roof are suddenly the talk of the town in soggy Philadelphia.

Longo also returned to the productive part of the lineup last night. He drove in Carlos Pena to put the Rays on the board in the top of the 4th.  Pena had doubled off the top of the wall in right, the ball barely escaping the webbing of Werth's to the delight of Rays fans from coast to coast. The boys are back.  In the nick of time.

Pena and Longoria somehow navigated the most bizarre and frustrating strike zone configuration the Rays have encountered all year.  For a birds eye view of what Home Plate Umpire Larry Kellogg saw, fast forward this YouTube to the 32 second mark. 

And speaking of birds eye views, let's wrap up this post with a time warp. Remember Dave Winfield's Fowl Ball?  God Bless Billy Martin in his front row seat: http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/2003/10/29/2003-10-29_fowl_ball__dave_winfield__bi.html

Rays Chew Up A Pair

Yowza. The Rays offense stuffed a sock in Boston again last night. When it was ovah, The Monsta said "TB 13. BOSTON 4".

Carl Crawford and Willy Aybar feasted on Wakefield whiffleballs and Boston relievers. Crawford set a Post Season record with his 5 for 5 performance that included everything but a dinger. Aybar's 5 RBIs once again demonstrated the Rays incredible depth. Tampa Bay wasted no time establishing the momentum with one out in the top of the first. A four pitch walk to speedy BJ Upton of a knuckleball pitcher guarantees a stolen base. Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria followed with back to back home runs. From there it just seemed easy.

Sonny was superb again, going 8+ and giving up his first three earned runs to Boston of the entire 2008 season.  Jackson closed it out setting the radar gun on fire with a slew of 95 mph plus heaters. He may just become the Rays 2009 closer

The Rays broke several post season records last night. It's tempting to get swept up in the hoopla, but here's a sobering fact. 15 teams have trailed 3-1 in a League Championship Series. 4 have come back to win in seven games. 3 times, it was The Boston Red Sox. 1 year ago, Boston trailed Cleveland three games to one and you remember the rest. But the 2008 Sox don't have Manny or Mike Lowell producing buckets of runs.

It's killin' me, but today it will be Humble Pie.  The tasty Boston Creme(d) Pie can wait a few more days.

Oops. They Did It Again

Jon Lester IS hittable. Two thirds of the Rays had hits by the time Byrd relieved Lester in the 6th with the Rays up 5-0.  Rocco Baldelli tacked on a 3 run homer in the 8th and Carlos Pena added a solo bomb in the 9th to seal the Sox fate. Rays 9, Sox 1.  8 hits off The Unhittable One snapped Lester's 24 2/3 scoreless inning playoff streak. And had Fenway "Faithful" headed for the exits in droves well before the last pitch.

And Garza. Other than a few distracting smacks from Pedroia, Kotsay and Cora, he shut down the Sox.  Youkilis just couldn't figure him out. The bullpen came through again. JP Howell dealt red hot Dustin Pedroia a double play ball with 2 on in the 7th and pitched a scoreless 8th to quash the Red Sox attempted comeback.  Jackson showed he didn't need a three inning warmup for his heater with a 1-2-3  9th inning. 

It's Wakefield vs Sonnanstine tonight. Whiffleballs vs. Every Other Form Of Deception. Could be an interesting night for hitters. Ellsbury and Ortiz are way overdue. Could be an interesting night for Rays pitchers. But as long as we end up with one more run than the Beantown Boys, it's all good.  9 home runs between Upton and Longoria in October. A roster full of singles, doubles, stolen bases and go ahead runs. Best defense in the American League. I like our chances.

There will be more post-season baseball at the Trop this year.  The only question is whether the next ball thrown in St. Pete will be in Game 6 of the ALCS or Game One of the World Series. Believe.

White Sox Blacked Out. Rays to ALCS!

Oh my. Win # 100.
They are playing for
the American League Championship.

Outrageous.

The eye black is dripping down my shirt. But it's running in rivers down the steps of US Cellular Field. The Chicago Black Out was an awesome show of fan support.

BJ has found his stroke, alright, going yard in his first two at bats. Pena is back on his game after that untimely eye injury on the eve of Game One. The Ray's first baseman was 3 for 4 with 2 RBIs tonight. Cliff Floyd and Dioner Navarro each drove in a run to round out the 6-2 effort for Tampa Bay. Props to Gabe Gross for plucking A.J. Pierzynski's long ball out of the air as it crossed the fence down the 1st base line. Sonny pitched a beautiful 5.2 innings giving up (only) 2 home runs on 3 hits. Grant Balfour came on in relief of Howell in the 8th and stayed in the game to close, facing only 7 batters in two innings. Troy who?

The boys are now pillaging the Visitors' Club House at US Cellular Field while the Angels try to send their series with the Red Sox back to LA. That's a fine idea. Another double digit inning, bullpen bashing, marathon would be a delightful way to spend a Monday evening. Then you can count on PTown fan to phlip phlop one more time. An ALCS match up with Boston means home field advantage for the Rays. And we totally rock at The Trop.

Dear Mrs. Pena,

If (only) you read my blog, please don't give Carlos any "honey do's" between now and the end of October.  We need both eyes on the ball.  Big time.  I totally rock at dusting.  I'm happy to fill in.  Limited time offer...  After RockTober, it's over.

Feel the love,

PTownFan

Rays Magic Number Is 4

Things to do, places to go, people to see today so let's keep it short and sweet:

• Rays plucked the Orioles in Baltimore 4-2. The Rays did that with only 3 hits. That's a rather paltry bit of offense guys.
• So there should be plenty of pop left in the bats for today's doubleheader. How 'bout a barrage of hits today. Thank you. Game one at 2:05 PTown time.
• David Price was Brandon Morrow-esque in his first major league start last night, taking a no hitter into the 5th inning. No decision, but an awesome effort. Happy to have him on board. Not sure I agree he should bump Sonny or EJax from the rotation in the playoffs though.
• The Tribe topped the Red Sox last night. Thank you v-e-r-y much. Sox are 2.5 back with 7 to go. The mohawks have far reaching mojo.
• MLB Player of the Week Honors for Senor Pena. He hit .318 (7-for-22) with three homers and 12 RBIs in his last eight games, and notched his 100th RBI on a bases-loaded walk last night. Two consecutive 100 RBI seasons. Cheers Carlos!
• AB's for Jonny today? Baltimore is throwing a lefty in game one today. Could happen.
• The Rays could clinch as soon as tomorrow with two wins today. Shields is going for his career best 14th win. Time to ice the bubbly.
• No bubbly for Longo. Evan had the post-bubbly bobbles last night. He's had two months worth of errors in about a week. I'm sending a case of Martinelli Sparkling Cider especially for him.
• Crawford starts swinging today. Gonna make it harder to find a post season spot for Jonny if Carl cruises back.
• 7 games left. 3 more in Baltimore then 4 in Detroit. GO RAYS!

Rays Playoff Bubbly In Bubble Wrap One More Night

PTownJr's Back To School Night topped the priority list last night. However, I managed to follow the ebb and flow of the Rays/Twins game on my most awesome and completely indispensable iPhone. Lot's of flow early. Followed by an ugly ebb. Really, it was more of a victory sucking vortex that swallowed the Rays 8-6 lead in the 9th.

Blowing a late lead has been a mighty rare occurrence this season so let's break it down with the return of The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly.

You owe it to yourself to cue the music for this one. Just click that play button on the right:

THE GOOD:

• A five run first!
• Three long balls for Long-o.
• Pena and Navi went yard.
• Pena and Longo went yard back to back, the 8th B2B set for the Rays this year.
• Some fine defensive plays... or so I hear. The iPhone MLB dudes were pre-occupied with the highly offensive top of the 9th.
• The home debut of David Price, the 1st overall draft pick of the 2007 draft. King David went 2/3 of an inning in relief of a somewhat shaky Shields. Coming in with one out and two on, he K'd two tough lefties after giving up a 2 run single.
• Percy pitched a scoreless 8th! !!!!! !!!!! !
• The Rays could clinch a wildcard spot tonight with a win. But only if the White Sox, Jays and Yankees all lose. I hope all 18 eyeballs are on the game and not the scoreboard tonight.

THE BAD:

• A crowd of only 17,298. People! What gives out there? Are all the Back To School Nights in Florida on September 17th? I don't think so!
• Those three long balls of Longo's tied Jonny's Team Record for most home runs in a game vs. KC in July, 2005. C'mon Evan. You're a stud, but is nothing sacred? You already have my vote for Rookie of the Year without raiding the trophy case.
• The dart board Joe is using to pick the Closer Du Jour needs some grease. Or fairy dust. Or something.

THE UGLY:

• The Twins scored 5 in the top of the 9th sparked by some local kid named Span playing in front of the hometown crowd for the first time.
• Delmon Young was among those that piled on. (Remember him? The Skipper got on him for not running out an infield hit last year so he declared a sick day and got himself traded... for Bartlett and Garza. Neener neener.)
• The Twins used a slug bunt to inflict more damange. Gardenshire credited head coach Paul Maytorena of the Casa Grande High School Gauchos for that move. Thanks Paul. You got some 'splainin to do. From now on, you're limited to one copy of the playbook.

Last But Not Least:

The Pearls have become pretty Rays centric of late, but we need to send some love to Brandon Morrow. His latest outing wasn't so pretty so we won't dwell on it, but just want to send the good vibes to a good kid who has pledged more memorabilia for the silent auction at our 2008 Camp For A Cure. More news on Camp coming soon.

Just like hitting bottle caps with sticks... Sox Meatloafed in 90th Win

"We were joking around in the dugout before he hit the home run," Pena said. "A popular game in the Dominican Republic is to hit the bottlecaps with the sticks. So I'm like, 'Hey man, Willy's played a lot of bottlecaps with sticks. It's a good matchup here."

That was Carlos Pena's reaction to Joe Maddon's light bending lineup card last night. Tim Wakefield has owned The Trop and lefty DH Cliff Floyd was just 1-11 against the knuckleballer. So why not try something new? Joe's solution... use untested switch hitter Willie Aybar's right handed bat against the softball server. Something about the bat path of his swing path from that side of the plate. Uh huh. Willie went yard in his first at bat and put the Rays up 3-2. They never looked back. Gross, Perez and Longo flicked a few bottlecaps before Francona pulled the plug and began the bullpen emptying procession of Sox relievers.

Meanwhile, Ortiz hit two home runs off Garza who held his ground but didn't dazzle last night. With a cushy but not comfortable 8-3 lead in the 5th and Ortiz coming to the plate a third time, Maddon went to the pen with a one-run mindset. Garza needed only one more out to be credited with the win, but in the other quote of the evening, Maddon later said:

""It isn't about Garza's won-loss record," Maddon said. "It's about the Rays' won-loss record."

We'll need that kind of thinking a lot during the next 45 or so days.

No bottlecaps for Jonny in the Rays 10-3 win last night. But I'm sure he's having the time of his life. The Rays Meatloafed the Sox again taking 2 of 3 and reduced their magic numbers to 10 for the AL East Championship and 4 for a wild card berth. They host the Twins in a four game series that begins tonight and finish the season with a 7 game road trip in Baltimore and Detroit. Let's hope a two game lead over the Sox is enough.

The Rays have now blown through all but the most Pollyanna-ish expecations, notching their 90th win. 95 is within reach. Whoda (really) thunk it?

Deja vu all over again!

Photo: St. Petersburg Times

Last night had to be the sweetest win ever! Again. The Rays regained sole possession of the AL East lead and could clinch a wildcard berth as soon as Friday. The Magic Number(s) are 12 (AL East Title) and 6 (Wild Card). Rays fans, tonight's game is huge. Find a rally cap and a Sports Bar.

No ABs for PTown's pro last night, but plenty of other pretty pearls.

• Sonny was sonsational. He may be on the bubble for the starting rotation with Price now up. And major trade bait once the season is over. I hope the PTBs decide to "dance with the one that brought ya". 13 consecutive innings vs. Josh Beckett without an earned run. John Romano (St. Pete Times) says Sonnanstine Has The Right Stuff For The Rays. I couldn't agree more.
• Josh Beckett took a no-no into the 5th and a 2 hitter into the 7th last night. At that point it hit me. I didn't have my lucky Rays cap on. I won it making Player of The Game Picks in the TBSNRadio510 Forum. A quick sprint to the closet worked. Swear to God... I put the thing on and 30 seconds later, Pena went yard and we had a 1-1 tie.
• The Rays mojo is full of that kind of supernatural touchy feely stuff . It all started with Joe Maddon's comment about "good face". It's been a love/hate relationship with Joe's hunches ever since, but lately... well... check the standings.
• The latest lucky charm is the fauxhawk mohawk. I credit Jonny with planting the seed for that one. His current hairdo started two years ago with a curly hawk with a long tail that one sportswriter said looked more like the rear end of a donkey or something to that effect. Next day it was gone. All of it. Maybe he can grow a faux in the next 12 days.
• Navarro cemented the momentum shift with a H-U-G-E gun down of Jacoby Elsbury at 2B in the 8th.
• Hard to believe for all the clutch hitting he's done this season, but Navi had his first walk off of 2008 last night. Bartlett hit a bloop single to lead off the 9th and get the winning run aboard. Pena drew a walk, moving Bartlett into scoring position. Longo K'd and Floyd took a slider square on the recently repaired right knee to load 'em up and make it seem even easier for Navi. Senior Septiembre drilled Masterson's 2-2 fastball to hop the wall and man love broke out all across America.

I envy those fans who win tickets to a game and a chat with their favorite player. If it were me, I honestly don't know how I could pick just one from this team. Every single one of these guys has contributed. They've picked each other up. They've played unfamiliar positions without complaint. They've handled the rare but necessary attitude adjustments with extraordinary class. Usually player to player without headlines. I hope the Rays set aside convention and pick 25 + MVPs at the end of this incredible season.

There is more riding on tonight's game than just a series win, or sole possession of 1st place in the AL East. It's about momentum, and tie breakers, should the Rays and Sox have equally strong finishes.

Grab a rally cap Rays fans. Hop on board The Magic Bus.