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Game 115, Rays at Mariners
Sonnanstine vs Felix, 7:10 pm.
Happy Felix Day!
I love Felix (obviously), but let’s put the cards on the table; I’m rooting for Tampa Bay all weekend. I won’t be sad if the M’s win, obviously, but my preference would be a sweep by the Rays. Postseason baseball will just be so much more fun if it’s Evan Longoria, Scott Kazmir, and James Shields playing the vaunted underdog role with either Boston or New York sitting at home during October.
Tampa Bay is, right now, the most fun team in baseball. They’ve got a crazy amount of youth, they’re winning for the first time ever, and they’re doing it with a new breed front office that understands how to put a team together. This is their 1995, just without the absurd comeback. They won yesterday with a 6 run ninth inning capped off by Carlos Pena’s walk off bomb.
Baseball needs Tampa Bay in the playoffs. I’m rooting for anything that helps them get there, and if that means the M’s go 0 for 4 this weekend, so be it.
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So with the Rays loaded with talent and Johnny Gomes suffering on the bench, is he someone the Mariners should pursue? Perhaps he could be the next Jack Cust?
I can get behind that. maybe a good outing by Felix, with no run support?
too bad the Ms aren’t cooperating more by leaving Batista in the rotation.
My ideal game involves Felix going 7 solid innings, then the bullpen blowing it.
Go Rays!
Sorry, not me. Screw ‘em, go M’s. Earn it Rays…
0 for 4 be damned. Felix gets his win… then the catastrophe should begin.
Fine, but M’s get to win today, with Felix getting the W. Then we lose the rest.
Felix is suffering from Matt Cain syndrome.
Wouldn’t they earn it by beating the Mariners?
Felix is on my fantasy team so that counts me out
Sure Dave, but I’ll be damned if I will root for them
Screw that, man! I want the M’s youngsters to kick ass. I’m rooting for us to sweep the Rays, and then for them to go on some berserk winning streak after they leave town.
I just want to see Felix do undeniably well. Other than that I don’t care if they lose…it’s just one step closer to Strasburg.
And I agree that baseball needs the Rays in the playoffs. Personally, I’m rooting for a Rays/Cubs series.
I’m rooting for the Rays as much as anyone, but this makes it hard.
They are showing a series of cartoons in between innings where they show players as a band of superheroes, battling their archnemesis, the evil…..Dr. Stat. Dr. Stat, who fills fans’ heads with “useless information”, making it impossible for them to enjoy the game.
I don’t know how to react to that. Follow the link at FJM to watch the cartoons.
GO RAYS! Except GO FELIX… um, I’m confused.
By the way, I’d advise people to stay away from the LL game thread tonight. That place is going to go nuclear.
Why is that Benne?
Rays fans are invading the thread.
Ichiro!–RF
Reed–CF
Raul–LF
Beltre–3B
Lopez–2B
Clement–C
Wlad–DH
LaHair–1B
Yuni–SS
For once, this lineup doesn’t make me want to kick a puppy.
I’m with Dave on this one. Maybe a 1-0 no decision by the King. I can’t stand the Yankees and lately I can stand the BoSox even less. Actually, I can’t stand BoSox fans.
It’s Stitch n Pitch Night!
It’s a nice night!
It’s Felix!
So where are y’all? About 35k empty seats.
Speaking in my professional capacity as a Red Sox fan, I have to say, I really want to actually win the bloody AL East one of these days. But it’s a big improvement to be the bridesmaid to the Rays than to the Yankees… again.
Yeah, it must be painful seeing the Red Sox not win the division for 11 months. I demand my team wins the division every half season or I get angry.
Umm, except the Sox won the division last year.
I didn’t know you could be a professional Red Sox fan?
Who bunts a runner from scoring position to scoring position in the 1st inning? Oh yeah…the M’s do.
Why for the love of God are they bunting in the first frickin inning with a guy already in scoring position?!?
I feel like I’m taking crazy pills!!!!
Edit: And now because of that bunt, they end up with only two tries to get the run in, and, of course, fail miserably.
Eh?
*checks*
Goddamn. I am, like, the worst fan ever. I thought we wildcarded in, again. /headdesk
Sigh………………..
How was Felix’s top half? I missed it…
Bunt??? Reed’s the second batter in the freaking game! … unbelievable.
And Raul and Adrian both fail to pick up the runner … ouch
Knock on wood, but Felix is actually starting off throwing well!
I heart Beltre!
Damn, Beltre makes that look easy.
Somebody tell Sonnanstine to tuck his jersey in. It’s bugging me.
Wow…..Can we drive in a run for FELIX!!! COME ON
The best way to give Felix run support: put Felix in the lineup.
I hope felix just called his own DP.
I just had horrible flashbacks there as Felix ran towards the plate…
aaaaand Clement’s terrible defense costs the M’s another run…
hey, if Vidro can be a Professional Hitter …
look! it’s Dr.Stat!
If anyone deserves a personal catcher, it’s’ Felix, and I always thought he and Joh got along quite well.
It’s starting to get frustrating watching Felix’s starts.
Throw a damn strike.
Think the analysts in the Baseball Operations department go out to lunch much with the folks in Marketing down there in Tampa?
I love that they call the group the “Defenders of the Game.”
40…Is it better to watch Silva’s, Washburn’s, Dickey’s, and Batista’s start??????
M’s lose this one and it’s a 3 way tie for last place!
The Nats won both games of their double header today.
WooooHoooo!!!
This 1st of worst battle is really heating up. At least there will be some form of scoreboard watching this September.
Hee. I just got home with dinner and turned on the game, watched a bit, thought “geez, I wonder how good the Rays’ record is anyway? It’d be neat if they were kicking ass in the AL East.”
Then I looked up the standings and come here to find this post from Dave. Yay! Go adorable little Devil Rays! It’d only be better if the fundie element hadn’t eradicated the word Devil (and will probably claim that’s why they started winning).
Go adorable little Devil Rays! It’d only be better if the fundie element hadn’t eradicated the word Devil (and will probably claim that’s why they started winning).
Is that why they changed it from Devil Rays to Rays?
Go Tampa Bay Satanic, Beelzebub-worshipping, Son-of-Lucifer Rays!
so if Giles goes to the BoSox, does that make the Padres better or worse?
I doubt anyone’s saying that exactly… but I wouldn’t be surprised if that had some effect.
Hee, The Onion on the name change…
I bet the guy who won the rally fries tonight, who promised to quit his job in Yakima if he got the fries is spending his time in Seattle looking for a job. No way he came to Seattle to see a game. He came to find a new job, the fries are extra.
Giles could turn out to be a good move by the Red Sox. He could become a Type A free agent after this season.
Niiiice. Poor Sonnanstine, tho.
I’d like some fries.
and tarter.
I glanced up and for a moment thought it was Paul Abbott…
It must be that low definition TV. Or Sims voice is starting to affect your other senses.
I think it was seeing the goatee from across the room … so, who was it that relieved Sonnenstine?
and just when i thought putz was finally getting back to what he did last year he does this!
wtf, msb? Tartar! Sonnanstine!
(To be truthful, I had to go back and edit Sonnanstine after checking.)
O YA!!!!
I would agree with Dave in that we NEED a Rays sweep of the M’s. Yes, I love the Mariners, but the look on Steinbrenner’s face when the Rays beat the Yanks would be worth a sweep to me. I think that it would be poetic justice for the Yanks too: 200 mil + compared to Tampa Bay’s numbers. It goes to show that money can’t buy everything except more implosions in New York.
Rauuuuuul!
Rauuuuuuuuul!
Rauuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuul
RAUL!!!!
Daaaamn!
Rauuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuul!
Trite, redundant or whatever you want to say, it is still worthy of one more -
RRAAUUUUUUUUUUULLL!
Could this be a repeat of 1985, when the M’s had a great record against the eventual World Champion Kansas City Royals?
yah, tarter.
RAUUUUUUULLLLL!
ok, I’d like the Rays to win the East, but that was a very nice game, and reminded me of the Olden Days.
RAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUL!
Damn, he’s on fire!
I think A-Rod should buy the Rays and get them to throw the rest of their games so he has a (slight) chance to play in
Rauuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuul!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
RAUUUUUUUL!!!!!! He’s red hot!!!
I have to say that as much as I’m also rooting for TB, I was stoked to see the walk off.
Felix ROCKS!
Rauuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuul ROCKS!
Not to rain on anybody’s parade, but Felix is now the only pitcher in our rotation with more wins than Putz. A tiny bit of that may be J.J.’s fault, but mostly it’s Bill Bavasi’s fault that we can only approach one game in five without dread.
I was actually happy with how Putz pitched, he had some really good splits and a fastball in the upper 90’s, besides the whole hitting Evan Longoria thingy…heh heh… I hope this lasts
Huzzah for Type A walk off homers!
I had the thought that the Mets might be regretting not picking up Raul, but then I remembered they have the Smokin’ Fernando Tatis …
Just came across THIS. Take it for what it’s worth, but I personally love this kind of thing. And it further proves that you don’t have to pay $12 mil/year for “chemistry.”
We won today and still dropped a half game to the Nats! Go Rockies!
Man, just got back from the game and it was pure awesome. Right before Wheeler served up that meat ball up to Ibanez, I said to my Mom,”We can win this, Wheeler is not that great of a pitcher.”(or atleast if I remember correctly he isn’t) I love being right.
I heard Drayer in the postgame say that they took Longoria to the Xray room and “faces were grim”, after the game.
Bad JJ.
But (update via cool edit feature) in the recap:
“Longoria had a bulbous wrap on his wrist after the game, but said X-rays were negative.”
Whew.
Just in case anyone needs another reason to dislike Washburn, here’s another.
Washburn’s a douche. He firmly established that when he tried to blame his suckitude on Kenji.
The greatest irony here, of course, is that he has the defense to thank for a large part of that shiny last two month ERA.
Trade him!
What a great game to watch from section 128, row 32. Felix Day! Sonanstine Day!
It was a little odd to see our boys jumping around to celebrate going 25 games under .500, but it was simply an outstanding game to watch.
My son Kyle called Raul’s walk off funk blast before it happened, which was pretty cool.
Great ballpark. Great game. Great garlic fries. Great Vidro-less team (is it just me, or is the vibe entirely different without Turbo?)
This was a transitional game for us, as we’re headed to a small town about an hour out of Tampa so my wife can regain her health. It’s been great being part of this community, and I look forward to being one of its further-flung members when I get connectivity at the new place, which is currently supposed to be the 18th.
Godspeed to you all until we meet again, and thanks for all the fish..
-wp
I haven’t gotten pleasure out of a M’s win since May I think. But I was at the bar (in Co) and looked up just in time to see RaUUUUUUl hit his walk off in time. Good win on Felix Day!
Since my b’day is coming up on Sunday, I decided to treat myself to a Felix Day game a few days early. It was almost a throwback of sorts to the way that games were supposed to be at the Safe: crisp, close, well-pitched and well-played. Both Felix and Sonnanstine were completely dialed in, and it was an absolute joy to watch.
And like a few others have mentioned, I just had a good feeling about RAUUUUUUUUL tonight!
And to you as well, Ward. Best of luck to you in the Sunshine State, old buddy…and Go Rays!
I disagree on that Washburn comment - I think he is mad at losing (understandably) and knows that if he sits and talks to the media, he will say something that he regrets or that he doesn’t really mean. We have all been there, I am sure. So they asked him about the lack of run support, and he said that he wasn’t going to blame it. Then he shut up, because he probably would have blamed it if he had kept talking.
Yea, there’s nothing wrong with what Washburn said in that article.
On a side note, how on earth did reporters get away with turning whether athletes talk to them or not a regular story? Seriously, did anyone have any idea who talked to the media after every start before Geoff Baker got here and made that his tool of analysis du jour? I have no idea whether Randy Johnson used to talk to Bob Finnigan regularly or not, and I just don’t care.
Just like I don’t care that Washburn and Silva talk and Bedard doesn’t. None of this matters to anyone except the writers.
I believe the answer is not, and it wasn’t made a big deal of … some one commented when the subject first came up (Stone? maybe?) that there are always guys who don’t talk, and you just know to work around it
I agree, I really don’t care if a player talks to reporters. I care how he performs (which can, in certain cases, include off-field behavior).
As far as Washburn’s comments, I took it as a veiled slap at his teammates, which is lame.
I’m not exactly sure what he meant, though. He says he’s not mad about the lack of run support, it’s “something else”, which doesn’t show signs of solving itself.
Which tells me it’s not the offense — they have made changes there (Vidro, Sexson, Johjima). Is it defense he’s mad about? Raul playing LF? Yuni sucking at SS? Not getting backrubs before the games?
Dave,
When ever I hear people carping about Bedard not talking I think about Steve Carleton. I loved the way he stiffed the press. Barry Bonds too.
I feel about the press about the same way Lee Elia feels (or at least is on the record) about the Chicago fans.