A Sox to the Ray’s Jaw

 

Sorry it took until this afternoon to post this. I had a work committment and died a bit today. But, without further ado, let’s get to bloggin’.

 

White Sox 9, Rays 2

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Trivia Fact of the Day:

Major League umpire Carl Hubbard is the only person in both the football and baseball Hall of Fames.

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                                   The Good,The Bad,and The Ugly

 

                                            The Good

 

I have alwasy been a huge B J Upton supporter. That probably why I am so hard on him in my blogs and in my critique of him this season. I seriously see him finally making a name for himself this year, and being a force for years to come here in Tampa Bay for the Rays. 

 

 B J  had a great night last night before Rays manager Joe Maddon pulled him and Carl Crawford from the game. Upton went 2-3 last night to up his average to .317. He also scored a run for the Rays.

 

Honorable Mention “Good” guys:

 

*** Jonny Gomes drove in RBI number 8 with a double to deep leftffield that Sox outfielder, Carlos Quentin could not catch off the “St. Pete Times” sign.

 

              

 

** Evan Longoria, who earlier in the day signed a huge multi-year contract with the Rays, hit a hard grounder to third, which scored Carl Crawford, and the first run of the game. That was Longoria’s 4th RBI of the young season.

 

*  Rays Reliever Scott Dohmann came on in the  7th inning and pitched a **** out from there. The reason this is big, is that the White Sox were capitalizing on Rays mistakes tonight and Dohmann shut them down. Dohmann did give up three hits, with  Carlos Quentin doubling to deep centerfield in the the 7th inning.

 

                                                The Bad

Where do I start here.

 Actually, Rays starter Jeff Niemann just didn’t make the correct adjustments after getting shelled on back-to-back homers by Jim Thome and Paul Konerko. Jeff threw 85 pitches in 3.1 innings and seemed to be missing the plate with his breaking pitches.

 

Jeff took the loss for the Rays, and gave up 8 runs on 5 hits tonight. The biggest was Jim Thome’s 511th homerun in the 3rd inning.   The White Sox designated hitter tied Hall of Famer Mel Ott for 21st place on the all-time list with his fourth homer of the season, which hit an overhanging catwalk.

 

Thome has reached base safely in all 26 games he has played at Tropicana Field.

 

                                              The Ugly

 

I have two “Uglies” for the day. It will not be the first time  I have mentioned one of them in my blogs.

 

The announced attendance last night was 12,379, or 30% full last night. It is surprising since the White Sox are leading their division, and they have a few local  athletes on their roster. I would have thought it might be a great game for the weekend, but maybe everyone is saving their energy for Sunday’s matchup of Jackson vs. Danks.

                             

The second is a very, very ugly sight to Rays fans. Not only can Eric Hinske not play first base worth a damn, but to look more like a Spanish matador and swing his cape/glove at the ball as its carooms to the wall, or not get in front of a ball ala Carlos Pena if it looks like a swibbler that could get by for extra bases.

 

It not only cost Jason Bartlett another error, but also Evan Longoria’s throw was not too errant to miss by stepping off the bag and getting it. Instead their thows went fron extra bases since Eric “the terrible” Hinske  would not come off the shiny white thing  stuck in the ground.

 

Former Rays Player of the Day/Night:

                              

Today former Rays is former Rays reliever, now a member of the Oakland A’s rotation, Chad Gaudin. He pitched 7 innings of 4-hit ball last night against the Kansas City Royals. Chad upped his record to 1-1, and also struck out 9 Royals last night.

Honorable Mention Ray:

Florida Marlin pitcher Doug Waecther pitched  2 innings of relief in the 6-4 loss to the Washington Nationals.