Dioner Navarro Is Actually Our Best Hitter?
I guess the answer to the above question, at least at this point in the season, is a surprisingly resounding "yes." The Rays, coming off an embarrassing sweep by the Red Sox at Fenway Park that not even James Shields and the returning Scott Kazmir could prevent, have now won two out of three games at Toronto's Rogers Centre. Last night's win was one they deserved, then didn't deserve, then pulled out rather easily.
Edwin Jackson pitched eight shutout innings in the rubber match and, thanks to home runs from Gabe Gross and Carlos Pena, went into the ninth inning with a 3-0 lead. Now here's Troy Percival with the save. But wait--Vernon Wells hit a two-run home run before Aaron Hill drove in Lyle Overbay with the tying run. More like a blown save. Not to mention totally cheating Edwin Jackson out of an easy win. So much for Percival's 0.00 ERA. So the game moves on past a 10th inning Blue Jays threat against Dan Wheeler, and all the way into the 13th inning. In comes Toronto's own 0.00 ERA reliever, and it's quite the surprise--former Tampa Bay pitcher Shawn Camp, whose ERA was about two gallons of gas last year when he played here. I once again figured out why the Rays let him go. After surrendering a sacrifice fly to Carl Crawford that scored Jason Bartlett, Dioner Navarro came up with two outs and the bases loaded following an Evan Longoria fly out. On 3-2 against Camp, Navarro pulled a sinkerball that didn't really drop deep into right center field for a surprising grand slam, the second of his career, to nail the coffin on an unconventional 8-3 victory. They win yet another series to go home on a high note and stay above .500 at second place in the division.
Tonight, the Rays face the Angels in the first of a three-game series. James Shields pitches against Jon Garland as Shields looks to regain the dominance he saw against the Red Sox two weekends ago in his last home start. As long as Kazmir can go longer than four innings this weekend, it's all good for him. I would like to briefly point out that the Atlanta Braves, who I don't see too much anymore thanks to lack of TV coverage, have now won six games in a row and are finally turning around their early underachievement. Meanwhile, the San Diego Padres of all teams lead the league at 23 losses. The Rays need to make sure they don't fall into that trap for yet another season, and so far they haven't. Let's keep it that way by showing the West Coast that the Rays are a legitimate force to be taken at the value of the hype. So until next time, go Rays.
Edwin Jackson pitched eight shutout innings in the rubber match and, thanks to home runs from Gabe Gross and Carlos Pena, went into the ninth inning with a 3-0 lead. Now here's Troy Percival with the save. But wait--Vernon Wells hit a two-run home run before Aaron Hill drove in Lyle Overbay with the tying run. More like a blown save. Not to mention totally cheating Edwin Jackson out of an easy win. So much for Percival's 0.00 ERA. So the game moves on past a 10th inning Blue Jays threat against Dan Wheeler, and all the way into the 13th inning. In comes Toronto's own 0.00 ERA reliever, and it's quite the surprise--former Tampa Bay pitcher Shawn Camp, whose ERA was about two gallons of gas last year when he played here. I once again figured out why the Rays let him go. After surrendering a sacrifice fly to Carl Crawford that scored Jason Bartlett, Dioner Navarro came up with two outs and the bases loaded following an Evan Longoria fly out. On 3-2 against Camp, Navarro pulled a sinkerball that didn't really drop deep into right center field for a surprising grand slam, the second of his career, to nail the coffin on an unconventional 8-3 victory. They win yet another series to go home on a high note and stay above .500 at second place in the division.
Tonight, the Rays face the Angels in the first of a three-game series. James Shields pitches against Jon Garland as Shields looks to regain the dominance he saw against the Red Sox two weekends ago in his last home start. As long as Kazmir can go longer than four innings this weekend, it's all good for him. I would like to briefly point out that the Atlanta Braves, who I don't see too much anymore thanks to lack of TV coverage, have now won six games in a row and are finally turning around their early underachievement. Meanwhile, the San Diego Padres of all teams lead the league at 23 losses. The Rays need to make sure they don't fall into that trap for yet another season, and so far they haven't. Let's keep it that way by showing the West Coast that the Rays are a legitimate force to be taken at the value of the hype. So until next time, go Rays.
Leave a comment