Thoughts From My Couch

After a tough 1-6 week, the Rays desperately need a strong showing this week. They'll have a much lighter week with two off days. The mid-week series will be a short two-game battle with the Miami Marlins at Tropicana Field, appropriately known as the "Citrus Series." After another off day on Thursday, the Rays will head to Houston as the AL's top two Wild Card teams battle. The Astros sit 4.5 games behind the Rays to begin the week, needing to try and close the gap with the Rays heading into their territory.  Tuesday 7/25 Rays 4, Marlins 1 WP- Tyler Glasnow (4-3), LP- Edward Cabrera (5-6), SV- Pete Fairbanks (12) A mid-week Citrus Series battle kicked off at Tropicana on Tuesday and it was all Tampa Bay. A three-run second inning helped get the Rays off to a fast start with an RBI single by Josh Lowe and a two-run double by Yandy Diaz being the run-scoring hits. The Marlins got one back in the third inning, but that's all they would muster against Tyler Glasnow. ...

This week feels like a make-or-break week for the Rays. With the Orioles closing in and a weekend clash between the two teams scheduled, this could be one of the most important weeks of the season. Before closing with Baltimore, the Rays start the week in Texas, facing the Rangers in another high-profile series.  Monday 7/17 Rangers 3, Rays 2 WP- Aroldis Chapman (5-2), LP- Pete Fairbanks (0-3) Things really felt like they were going well early for the Rays. A sac fly in the first inning and a solo home run by Josh Lowe in the second inning staked the Rays to a 2-0 lead. Shane McClanahan was also pitching well, throwing five shutout innings, keeping the Rangers' bats quiet. All of that changed with one swing of the bat. Ezequiel Duran smacked a two-run shot off McClanahan to tie things up and deflated the good feeling. The game sat tied 2-2 until the bottom of the ninth. Josh Jung doubled to lead off the inning and advanced to third a few batters later. With two out, Pete Fairbanks...

After stumbling into the break, the Rays will greatly need this time off to regroup and get back to their winning ways. Four players will represent the team in Seattle for Monday and Tuesday's festivities. Once the dust settles in the battle for league supremacy, the Rays will be on the road to kick off the "second half." The first series back will be in Kansas City as the Rays battle the Royals in a three-game set.  All-Star Break Recap The Rays represented in a big way over the two-day fest. On Monday, Randy Arozarena put on a clinic in the Home Run Derby. Arozarena defeated Texas' Adolis Garcia in the first round, 24-17, and Luis Robert Jr, 35-22, in the second round before ultimately falling to Vladimir Guerrero Jr, 25-23, in the finals. His 82 total home runs are the second-most in Home Run Derby history and his 35 homers in the second round are tied for the fourth-most in a single round.  Outside of a really bad mishap where both Wander Franco and Shane McClanah...

The Rays will end the first half of the season at Tropicana Field with some competition against the NL East. Their mid-week series will see them host the Philadelphia Phillies, one year removed from reaching the World Series. The weekend series is what everyone is talking about as the two best teams in the league to this point will go toe-to-toe as the Rays host the Atlanta Braves. With the break coming up, it'll be important for the team to end the half with some momentum.  Tuesday 7/4 Phillies 3, Rays 1 WP- Aaron Nola (8-5), LP- Zach Eflin (9-4), SV- Craig Kimbrel (13) Aaron Nola stole the show for the Phillies, giving up very little to the Rays' offense. Philadelphia struck first in the second inning with Alec Bohm driving an RBI double against Zach Eflin. This would be the only run of the game until Bryson Stott singled home another run in the seventh inning. Eflin, despite the loss, was solid, pitching seven innings and striking out nine. Bryce Harper added one more in the...

The Rays were back on the west coast for the week. They started in the desert against the Diamondbacks for a three-game interleague set against one of the bigger surprises in the National League. The Rays would then hit the northwest as they looked to defeat one of last season's best surprises in Seattle. It would be a big series for the team as Shane McClanahan is set to return from the injured list.  Tuesday 6/27 Diamondbacks 8, Rays 4 WP- Zac Gallen (10-2), LP- Taj Bradley (5-4) We've learned plenty of times that one bad inning at the beginning of the game. Usually, the Rays are letting the other team have it. Tonight, the Rays were on the wrong side of the bad inning. Taj Bradley had a rough first inning, allowing five runs to Arizona with Corbin Carroll hitting a three-run home run and Christian Walker adding a solo shot. The Rays didn't go down without a fight. Randy Arozarena and Isaac Paredes each scored on wild pitches, Luke Raley scored on an RBI groundout by Chri...