Thoughts From My Couch

After a successful trip out west, the Rays return home as they continue to chase the Baltimore Orioles in AL East. Their journey this week would feature two teams at the bottom of their respective divisions. The mid-week series would be a three-game interleague series with the Colorado Rockies before they welcome their division rivals, the New York Yankees, for the weekend. There always seem to be sparks when the two sides come together, and with the Yankees entering as cold as ice, they should have plenty of fight in them to turn things around.  Tuesday 6/22 Rays 12, Rockies 4 WP- Andrew Kittredge (1-0), LP- Brent Suter (4-1) Everything that happened before the eighth inning feels insignificant. Through six innings, the Rays and Rockies traded the lead. Isaac Paredes drove one in with a fielder's choice in the first. A sac fly and a Michael Toglia home run shifted the lead to Colorado in the second. RBI singles by Jose Siri in the third and Yandy Diaz in the fourth put the Rays ba...

College football has returned with a small Week 0 slate. While there aren't any major matchups, two Top 15 teams were in action, with the reigning Heisman winner beginning his campaign for a repeat and a highly-touted transfer making his debut in Ireland. There were also a few conference matchups out of C-USA that came down to the wire. It was only a seven-game day, but there was plenty of action to wet our whistles before things get going next week.  Recap of the Games #13 Notre Dame 42,  Navy 3 (Dublin, Ireland) The first game of the season wasn't close. The Fighting Irish and Midshipmen battled in Dublin, and Wake Forest transfer Sam Hartman was the night's story. After Notre Dame punched it in on the ground twice, Hartman would throw four touchdowns in his debut. The Notre Dame defense was suffocating, avoiding a near-catastrophe like last season. They would only allow a field goal as Notre Dame started their season with a dominant performance abroad.  Jacksonville St...

The Rays are heading out to California for two series on the west coast. The beginning of the week will feature a three-game interleague battle with the San Francisco Giants as the Rays look to keep pace with Baltimore in the AL East. The weekend series will be interesting in more ways than one. The best player in the world, Shohei Ohtani, will lead the Angels for three games against the Rays, but the weather could be a major factor as a hurricane makes its way to the mainland. Regardless, the Rays need to pick up two series wins here against teams they don't get to see often.  Monday 8/14 Rays 10, Giants 2 WP- Tyler Glasnow (6-3), LP- Tanner Beck (3-2), SV- Jacob Lopez (1) After missing some time, Tyler Glasnow stepped back onto the mound and delivered a quality start for the Rays in the opener against the Giants. The offense took a few innings to get going, but once they did, it was an explosion of runs. Osleivis Basabe got it going by driving in the first two runs of his career ...

This could be a very big week with two teams currently sitting outside of the postseason. With St. Louis sitting in the basement of the NL Central, Cleveland below .500, and the Rays chasing the Orioles for the division lead, this is the week to make up some ground. Injuries at an inopportune time could hurt the team, meaning we'll need some pitchers to step up and steal some games.  Tuesday 8/8 Rays 4, Cardinals 2 WP- Jason Adam (3-2), LP- Miles Mikolas (6-8), SV- Pete Fairbanks (15) While the Rays didn't struggle to get on base in this game, the offense didn't show up until late in the game. Through six innings, the only run on the board came from a Nolan Arenado solo home run in the second inning. Otherwise, Miles Mikolas and Zach Eflin were engaged in a tight pitcher's duel. Eflin would complete seven innings, allowing four hits and striking out eight Cardinals. In the bottom of the seventh, Isaac Paredes got the Rays on the board with a solo home run. In the eighth...

The road trip continues for the Rays with two more stops. First, they head to the Bronx for a battle with, arguably, their biggest rival, the New York Yankees. It'll be a three-game tilt to open the week with Wednesday sporting a huge pitcher's duel between Gerrit Cole and Shane McClanahan. After an off day on Thursday, the team will travel to Detroit for three games with the Tigers. These are the last two stops before the team heads back to Florida for a few games.  Monday 7/31 Rays 5, Yankees 1 WP- Tyler Glasnow (5-3), LP- Jhonny Brito (4-5) The long ball and outstanding pitching propelled the Rays to a series-opening win at Yankee Stadium. The team slugged four home runs with Brandon Lowe hitting a two-run shot in the first and solo home runs coming from Wander Franco, Isaac Paredes, and Josh Lowe as the Rays controlled a 5-1 lead through four innings. From there, Tyler Glasnow took over. He pitched seven innings, allowing three hits, walking two, and striking out eight. His...