Did I jinx the Rays with my praise-laden posts last week? I doubt it - they hardly know I exist yet. (Yet!) Did I jump the gun by giving them so much credit for their stellar start to the season? I still don’t think so. A couple of walk-off losses during an interleague series doesn’t - and shouldn’t - change my way of thinking about this club.
Dropping two of three to the Cardinals in St. Louis over the weekend leaves the Rays in 2nd place in the AL East, a game behind the Boston Red Sox. (Beantown will claim, of course, that this is how it should be, but at least the Rays have made a bit of a statement of their own - that, for now anyway, they live in the same neighborhood as the BoSox.) Still, you can’t complain about where they are at this stage of the season.
Putting the interleague series behind them, the Rays head out west for a 3-game tilt with Oakland, where they are just 10-35 historically. But that was when there was still a “Devil” in the team’s moniker and, as we’ve said time and again recently, this is a whole new ballclub.
The Rays will send James Shields (4-3), Scott Kazmir (2-1) and Andy Sonnanstine (6-1) to the hill against the A’s, who will counter with Joe Blanton (2-6), Greg Smith (2-3) and Dana Eveland (3-3). Rebounding from losing two of three is important, with a divisional matchup at home against Baltimore immediately following the quick west coast trip.
The challenge for the Rays is to continue their strong play and bounce back from this minor slip-up. The challenge for me this week will be to stay awake to take in these first two games.
That’s not nearly as easy for me as it used to be.
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Last post (s) by Jon Jordan
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Tags: A's, Major League Baseball, Rays
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