It is always good to see Jonny Gomes at a game. Iman the guy always has a smile on his face and is always eager to see fans and player he knows while traveling around during this years Spring Training. So here I am in Gomes-land, the Sarasota complex where the Cincinnati Reds will call home for only the next month. If Gomes does make the Reds 25-man squad, we will not see him here in Florida in 2010. that is right, for the first time in a long while, next season’s Grapefruit League might not have Gomes to kick around anymore.
The main reason is that the Reds have decided to move their spring operations to Arizona next year. This will make most of the team still here in the Grapefruit league have to play split-squad games because there will only be 15 teams left in Florida. You know that MLB will be laboring and straining to again get a 16th team back in the Sunshine State, but who could it be. Everyone who currently play out in the Arizona sun seemed to be happy and pleased with their complexes, and none of them have voice even any unhappiness about their next year. So this spring might be the swan song of Mr Gomes. It will be a said day when the Rays last play the Red here again on March 29th.
Today’s game will be the second start of the spring for Scott Kazmir. He is still fighting some of the rust of the short off season, but he reported to camp with 20 pounds of additional muscle and lean throwing ability and wants to regain his edge again this year. That should be a great thing to hear if you are a Rays fan. When this guy feels good, it is usually a bad sign for opponents in the American League. So he takes the mound today looking to gain more control and to stretch his inning totals for the first time this year. And that could also be a bad thing for batters.
Brandon Arroyo took the mound first today for the Reds and was trying to seek some early rhythm in his second start of the spring. Jason Bartlett lead off the game on base for the Rays as he was hit by a Arroyo pitch. Carl Crawford then hit a single to right field to put two men on with no out in the game. Evan Longoria then hit a nasty liner to Keppinger at shortstop who grabbed the liner and then tossed to second base to get Bartlett who had wandered too far off the bag for a double play. Carlos Pena then hit a double that scored Crawford from first base and gave the Rays a 1-0 lead. Pat Burrell, who was playing right field today then came up and hit a RBI-double down the left field line to score Pena. Willy Aybar then struck out to end the Rays rally, but they now led 2-0.
Willy Taveras is the first batter to face Kazmir today and he was selective with Taveras before getting him to strikeout on a breaking pitch for the first out. Jeff Keppinger then came to the plate and hit a solid ball through the hole between short and third for the first base runner of the game. He then stole second on Kazmir, who seemed to take an extra amount of time between pitches today on the mound. Layne Nix, who is fighting for a spot on this team then hit a grounder to Willy Aybar at second. Aybar then flipped the ball to Pena for the second out of the inning. Keppinger moved over to third on the play. Daryle Ward then struck out to end the Reds attempt at a rally.
Kazmir came to the mound again in the second inning and Juan Francisco to hit a hard grounder to Aybar, who threw to Pena for the first out. Craig Tatum the hit a single to left field to put a man on for the Reds. Norris Hopper then hit a fly out to center for the second out of the inning. Paul Janish then hit an RBI-triple off the top of the left field wall to score Tatum. With the game taking part in a National League park, it was the Reds decision for the pitcher’s to bat today. So with two outs in the inning, Arroyo came up to bat in the inning. He ended hitting a deep fly ball to Ben Zobrist in center field for the final out of the inning.
Francisco Cordero, who like Weathers is trying to come back after injury took the mound in the 8th inning. He quickly gave up a single to right field to Reid Brignac. Rays Olmedo then hit a grounder to second that was thrown to second and then to first to complete a 4-6-3 double play. It was the first one of the day against the Rays. Johnson then came up and hit a deep ball to center for the third out of the inning. Niemann again took the mound for the Rays and faced Luis Bolivar first in the inning. He got him to hit a short grounder back to the mound that Niemann threw to first for the first out of the inning. Maddon then came out and pulled Niemann from the game and brought in Wade Davis.
Jeff Niemann did nothing to discount his stride to take the fifth rotation spot. He ended up going 2 innings and only gave up a walk. but he also lowered his spring ERA to .082. I am thinking that barring a bad outing in the next two weeks, the spot in the rotation might have been decided today. I am not going to put it in stone until the next outing by Jason Hammel, but the writing is beginning to be written on the wall. Carlos Hernandez also still has an outside shot at maybe gaining ground and maybe a roster spot with a great spring.
Photo credits: 1) RRCollections
2) The Enquirer ( Michael E Keating )
3) The Enquirer ( Michael E. Keating )
4) The Enquirer ( Kathy Willens)
8 replies on “Rays Take Down Reds 3-1”
Rays – what is the attraction of Arizona over Florida for Spring Training? I can understand the teams from the West Coast wanting to play there to be closer to their fans, but are there any other reasons?
Julia
http://werbiefitz.mlblogs.com/
Well,
For some reason they think it is warmer than Florida, and the state has a very lucrative economic package for team training in their state.
Florida does the same, but not wit the same upside. But with Cincy leaving, it brings about an odd number of teams, which constitutes split squad games to make up for the 16th team.
Rays Renegade
http://raysrenegade.mlblogs.com
Renegade, you should do play-by-play announcing for the Rays. You’ve got these games covered. I felt like I was there.
– http://janeheller.mlblogs.com
I did take a class in announcing in college, but I have a face for radio. lol
I just like to let some people know what happened since most of the games are not on television.
I do not go so far into depth to tell you if it was a “ground ball with eyes”, or a “Texas Leaguer hit”, but sometimes the basics are perfect for the illustration of the game.
Thank you for that compliment, I will forward this to Rich Herrera who does the pre-game and post-game for the Rays lol (Just kidding Rich).
Rays Renegade
http://raysrenegade.mlblogs.com
Very good play-by-play! It’s disappointing to see the teams leave for Arizona. The photos of an empty Dodgertown at Vero Beach were depressing. Hopefully, the Grapefruit League can lure one of the desert dwellers back to even the numbers…
Scott
http://fotr.mlblogs.com
I know, seeing Progress Energy/Al Lang empty in St. Petersburg also makes the Grapefruit League seem to be a decaying league. And that is a crime. The history is deep and solid in Florida and to see any team leave is disheartening.
Dodgertown also lost the Florida State League Vero Beach D-Rays last year as they moved to Port Charlotte and became the Stonecrabs.
Rays Renegade
http://raysrenegade.mlblogs.com
Oh, great – so they are going to do more split squads next year. I’m not too sure about those games. It seems to work for exhibition games against colleges and such. I guess the Cactus league will have to do the same too.
Canuck
I would think they woiuld since there will be an odd 15-team split in both Leagues next Spring.
But, that can sometimes work out great to get some of the Triple-A guys more reps with the big boys. In the long run, it works for everyone.
Rays Renegade
http://raysrenegade.mlblogs.com