Kuzul

This is not what the Rays envisioned in the second season.

They did not anticipate striking out a lot. They did not anticipate leaving many men on base. They did not think their ace would fail when it mattered. They did not think they would be in danger of being eliminated by the Rangers.

This is exactly what happened. This fine season has gone ugly in the span of two days.

The Rays will be heading to Arlington down by two games, and they will be lucky if this series goes back to Tropicana Field.

This is not looking good. What is there to be optimistic about at this point?

The Rangers outplayed the Rays in those two games, and now they know they can finish the Rays off either Saturday or Sunday. With their suffering fanbase tasting a shot to go to the American League Championship Series, the Rangers will no doubt feed off of that.

Plus, does anyone think the Rays will suddenly hit after two lousy games? Hitting is contagious. When hitters get into a groove, it goes well. When they struggle, it snowballs.

With the Rays, their hitters have been great or awful. Rays manager Joe Maddon didn’t know what to expect out of them this year.

The Rays are struggling at the wrong time obviously. Maybe this should have been expected. Too many times this year, the Rays struck out often and left men on base.

Also, they tend to get started late in the game rather than early on. That’s a recipe for disaster, and now it’s catching up to them.

In the first two games, the Rangers got off to a good start by leading early in the game, and the Rays had a hard time catching up. Championship teams get on the board early, and they finish it.

Here’s another alarming stat that stood out in this series so far:

The Rays had the bases loaded in both games, but they failed to knock those runners home twice. They went 4-for-44 with men in scoring position.

They struck out 23 times in both games.

Those stats indicate this team is not getting it done.

The Rays stars have done next to nothing. Carl Crawford, Evan Longoria, B.J. Upton and Carlos Pena have not been on base often. They have not hit the ball either.

Pena was so bad that he did not play in today’s game.

When a team’s stars don’t do much, it’s hard for that team to win a postseason series let alone a postseason game.

The Rangers have gotten production from Vladimir Guerrero, Ian Kinsler, Nelson Cruz and Michael Young. That is why the Rangers are leading the series.

Who knows if the Rays starters can recover that quickly? If they were going to recover, it was going to be today. Anyone is entitled to have one bad game, but when it becomes both games, it’s epidemic.

Doubts creep in. Guys lose confidence. Guys get mentally beaten down.

It sure looks like that’s the case now with the Rays. When a team goes down two games, it is hard to feel optimistic.

Now, this Rays team has been resilient, but then again, they have never faced adversity outside of June.

It’s their first true test. How will they handle it? Is this group equipped to handle it?

Who knows the answer? The best answer would be how the offense responds.

It’s interesting folks worried about how James Shields would perform today, but it turned out he did okay. He wasn’t great, but even if he was, it’s hard to believe he would get the win with that anemic offense.

If anything, Shields gave the Rays a better chance to win the game than David Price did on Wednesday.

Matt Garza can go pitch a perfect game, but it is not going to matter until the hitters start figuring it out.

The pressure is all on the Rays. They were expected to go win the series. They were supposed to be the better team.

They have to find a way to win the next three games. It is certainly feasible, but it is certainly not going to be easy. Winning three straight in October is harder than winning three straight during the course of the season.

Teams choked in playoffs, but that’s a rarity. It has to be a catastrophe.

Who knows if this group has it in them to rally around each other? It’s very good when things go well, but when it goes bad, it reveals a lot about these guys.

Now we find out what this group is made of. No one cares what they did in the regular season.

It’s about doing it in October.

Now we find out what the Rays are all about.

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WDAE’s drive-time show host Steve Duemig has a Facebook page for fans to talk sports in the Tampa Bay area.

Looking at his Facebook page, there are many vociferous Joe Maddon critics that post about the Rays manager’s decisions in a game.

This has been going on for the last few years. Many people think Maddon tends to outsmart himself by fielding different lineups or using different relievers to get an out.

After a Rays loss, Duemig’s Facebook page can be comic relief. It is interesting to hear what those armchair quarterbacks would do in a game. Some of them are so off-the-wall that it is not even funny.

Maddon gave another reason for those critics to rip him. He announced James Shields will start Game 2 against the Rangers on Thursday afternoon.

This is easy to second-guess here. Shields did not have a good season. It is surprising that he is starting, let alone that he is on the postseason roster.

He has not earned the right to go pitch in this round. It is interesting Jeff Niemann is not even starting in this series. As much as he struggled since being activated from the disabled list, Niemann at least gives the team a better chance to win than Shields.

The Rays were better off either starting Wade Davis or Matt Garza in Game 2. Jeremy Hellickson was not an option to start because the Rays felt he would be better off being the first guy out of the bullpen if one of the starters struggles in the first round.

Davis would have been this writer’s pick to start Game 2. He is the second best starter on the team at this point. The Rays can expect quality performance out of him in a start like this.

Maddon did not think that way. He figured experience counts for something. Davis does not have that, but that is overrated. We have seen experienced pitchers bomb in the postseason. It comes down to whether the guy has the stuff and the guile to get hitters out.

Does anyone trust Shields in this spot? The longtime Rays starter showed he can pitch well against great teams. He demonstrated that twice against the Yankees this year, but the Yankees also hit him well in several starts.

It is hard to think a starter can go turn it on now that he is pitching in October. If a starter consistently pitches awful for most of the year, it is hard to get that stuff back all the time.

With Shields, he has been thinking too much. It appears he expects to fail when he is out on the mound. He is not demonstrating the confidence factor anymore.

He wants everything to be done right. It has to be perfect. If he is not in a jam, he can get into a groove. Once he makes a mistake or two, it becomes a big inning where he implodes.

This is not what a team wants to see out of a starter in October. That is asking for a trouble.

The Rangers feast on pitchers who have command problems. That was the case for Shields in a start against the Rangers on June 5th. In that start, he gave up six runs (three earned) and 10 hits in seven innings.

To be fair to Shields, he allowed two runs on four hits in seven innings against the Rangers on August 18th. This took place at Tropicana Field, so Maddon hopes his starter can duplicate that in Game 2. Problem is that it is hard to do it.

Maddon can talk about how Shields does fine at the Trop, but giving up 111 hits, 14 home runs, and 53 runs at home does not strike anyone as a confidence builder. He had bad outings over there too, so the difference of home and road splits mean nothing.

On Friday night, Shields was coming off a lousy start against the Royals, who will not be confused with the Big Red Machine. He gave up 12 hits and seven runs in that start. This is not the way to fine-tune for a postseason start or convince a manager to start him.

This is a surprise to see him start days after a bad start. This is a starter who went 0-4 with a 7.59 ERA in his last six starts. This is a starter who leads the league in most home runs, runs and earned runs.

When Ron Washington and the Rangers found out about this news, they had to be giggling among themselves. If the Rangers can win Game 1, they could be in a position to win the series at home in either Game 3 or 4. They have the edge in the starting pitching matchup between C.J. Wilson and Shields.

Wilson can be counted on to pitch a great game. His wins and his command speak for themselves. Shields cannot say that.

It will be interesting how Maddon proceeds in using his struggling starter in this game. Will Shields go five innings only? Can Maddon muster relievers to pitch through the middle innings before he can give it to Joaquin Benoit and Rafael Soriano?

If Shields can somehow pitch six good innings, it will be a victory in itself for him and the Rays. Maybe the Rays can get by with a so-so start out of him. That would be the best scenario, but who knows if Shields has it in him?

Maddon is hoping his gut will pay off here. He is banking on Shields to show his savvy here.

One thing’s for sure: If it does not work out, Duemig’s Facebook page will be a must read.

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If Joe Girardi decides he had enough of the Yankees experience and goes to the Cubs, the Yankees can forget about Don Mattingly managing them.

The Dodgers hired Mattingly as their new manager after Joe Torre announced he won’t return as the Dodger manager next year.

This is too bad. The Yankees need a manager who appreciates the game. They need a manager who won’t overmanage. They need a manager who will not have an ego on gamedays.

Mattingly would fit the bill. Please do not talk about his lack of experience. Any manager can manage a team with the payroll the Yankees have.

If a manager has plenty of talent to work with he can get by. We saw that with Girardi last year.

The Yankees manager made dubious decisions when it came to pitching in October. Fortunately for him, his hitters bailed him out.

It also helped that CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, and Andy Pettitte managed to win games in October.

If Girardi was not blessed with talent he would just be another manager and nothing more.

Want to know how players look good? Look back to Boston‘s manager Terry Francona. Philadelphia sports fans perceived him as a dumb manager when he lost in Philly. Yet he is now viewed as a great manager because he won two championships in Boston.

Does a manager make that much of a difference? All a manager can do is have his team sharp when the game begins.

Other than that, it comes down to what the players do within the white lines.

There is a good reason the Yankees are not in a rush to sign Girardi to an extension. They know he is replaceable. If anything, he should be begging to stay on rather than using the Cubs as leverage.

That would be a bad strategy on Girardi‘s part, especially if the Yankees miss out on the playoffs for the second time in three years under his stewardship. Don’t laugh at that prospect.

The Yankees are nicked up with injuries. Nick Swisher and Brett Gardner can’t seem to move, Mark Teixiera’s foot limits his ability to hit, and Alex Rodriguez has not been productive thanks to a hip issue.

Their hitters don’t scare elite pitchers. The Yankees strike out often these days at a high ratio.

Outside of CC Sabathia, no one in the rotation scares anyone. The Yankees are banking on Andy Pettitte, but what if he can’t be good enough after being activated from the disabled list?

The schedule does the team no favors. The Orioles, Rays, Blue Jays, and the Red Sox know what it takes to beat the Yankees this year.

With the Red Sox six games out in the division and six 1/2 games out for the wild card, they can make a run of their own. At this point, there’s more trust on the Red Sox than the Yankees to make the playoffs.

What’s alarming is Girardi is not responding to the situation well. He has been moody with reporters. He talked about how the pennant race is work. He has had a quick hook with the pitchers if they screw up.

Is this want the Yankees want to see from their leader?

This type of attitude rubs off on the players. Girardi was able to relax last year because his players were never hurt and they played great all year.

When there is first sign of trouble, the Yankees manager is tense.

It is not going to get any better next year. The Rays will take a step back with defections, but the Orioles, Blue Jays, and the Red Sox are not going anywhere. Expect those three teams to improve.

How will Girardi handle it? Do the Yankees trust him to lead? This year’s experience will speak volumes about him.

We also question Girardi‘s bullpen use. It’s nice he wants to rest his relievers, but this is September. Every game is important. If the Yankees lose these games, the Red Sox will gain more games.

The Yankees should be trying to win these games. The more they win, they can exterminate the Rays. Then, they can go rest their players.

That’s how a team should do it. For Girardi to think the wild-card spot is a safety net, that’s wrong. Nothing is guaranteed.

If this strategy costs his team the postseason, the Yankees should fire him outright.

Does anyone think Mattingly would do this? Don’t think so. Rest assured, he would play to win the game and worry about the other stuff when he has to.

Plus, he would embrace the games in September instead of pouting like a spoiled brat.

Mattingly would have been a better choice to manage the Yankees when the team decided to end their relationship with Torre. He would have been a great choice to take over for Girardi.

It is the Yankees’ loss.

They are stuck with Girardi or whoever for better or for worse.

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It is a good thing the Rays play the Yankees for a four-game series next week at Yankee Stadium.

After watching three exhilarating games between both teams at Tropicana Field this week, baseball can not have enough of both teams facing each other.

It may not be Yankees-Red Sox, but Yankees-Rays is anything but unwatchable. If anything, Yankees-Rays is better than watching that age-old rivalry.

When the Yankees and the Rays play each other, it is entertaining. It is rare both teams get outplayed when they play each other. Players find a way to step up, and both teams can come back to tie it after falling behind.

Count on good pitching when both teams play each other. That is a good thing. It makes the game watchable, and it reveals who comes out strong in a tight game.

These three games exemplified why this series should be appreciated.

On Monday night, it was about pitching. CC Sabathia and David Price engaged in a pitching duel for eight innings. Not surprisingly, both drew no-decisions. It came down to the bullpen, and that’s where the Rays beat the Yankees.

The Rays used their best relievers while Joe Girardi decided to use his middle relievers in extra innings. The results were not an accident. Reid Brignac hit a game-winning home run off Yankees reliever Sergio Mitre to give the Rays a 1-0 victory.

One wondered how the game would fare if Girardi used David Robertson or Joba Chamberlain in extra innings. It probably would keep the game scoreless, which is why Yankee fans questioned Girardi’s decision.

The Yankees manager explained he wanted to rest his best relievers after overusing them lately. From this writer’s perspective, that explanation was lame. This was a case of him trying to prove what a genius he is by showing faith in his obscure relievers.

On Tuesday night, it was a slugfest. Ivan Nova started for the Yankees and Matt Garza started for the Rays. Neither pitcher pitched well, and they did not last long. The Yankees scored six runs, but the Rays scored seven runs in the fifth inning to take a 7-6 lead. The Yankees came back to tie it at seven in the sixth inning on Robinson Cano’s home run.

That game ended in extra innings again. Jorge Posada hit a game-winning home run in the tenth inning, but the Rays could have tied it if Carl Crawford did not try to tag to third. Greg Golson threw the ball to Rodriguez, who tagged Crawford out to end the game.

On Wednesday night, it was about resilience.  The Yankees took a 1-0 lead, but the Rays responded with a two-run home run by Dan Johnson to take a 2-1 lead. The Yankees regained the lead on a two-run blast by Curtis Granderson, which made it a 3-2 game. The Rays received another two-run dinger by Johnson to retake the lead at 4-3.

In boxing terms, both teams traded blows. In the end, it was the Rays that won the battle and won the war for this series.

It could have been easy for the Rays to be deflated after Derek Jeter tricked the umpire about being hit by pitch, which set the stage for Granderson to hit his home run. Whoever thought that has no clue about that team. There are always guys who find a way to get some runs after falling behind. They have done it all year, so there is no reason to think it should change now.

It is not an accident that both teams played each other well.  The Rays are 8-6 over the Yankees this season, and prior to this weekend series, the Rays took a 6-5 series lead. Games could have went either way. The Yankees had their chances to take the series lead this year.

When one looks at this matchup, it seems like destiny that both teams will face each other in the American League Championship Series.

They are the top two teams in baseball with due respect for the Twins and the Rangers. Despite injuries and struggles, both teams keep winning. It is not surprising that both teams can’t create breathing room in the division between each other.

Both teams win almost every day. It says a lot about the talent and leadership. There is also something to be said about magic. Good things always seem to happen to them.

With the way both teams played each other all year, it would be a disappointment if they do not play each other in the second round.

The Yankees and the Rays feature drama that the Twins and the Rangers can not provide. Championship series should be about strong teams playing for a championship. It should not feature a team that got hot at the right time.

What is scary is both teams are capable of losing in the first round. The Yankees are going through injuries while the Rays do not have a deep starting rotation they used to enjoy. This could be problematic in a short series.

Here is another problem. For everyone anointing the Yankees and the Rays into the playoffs, the Red Sox showed they are not done just yet. They could crash in the postseason by going on a run that the Rockies are right now.

The Red Sox are six-and-a-half games back in the division and six games back in the Wild Card. Keep in mind the Red Sox have couple of meetings against the Yankees this month, so there is a good chance they could gain some games.

There is no question they received a boost after taking two of three against the Rays at Fenway last week.

It is going to be tough, but do not tell that to the Red Sox. They will not be fazed.

Next week’s Yankees-Rays matchup should be foreshadowing to who will win the division and who will fight out for the Wild Card. Whoever takes three of four will have an edge to win the American League East.

Expect four games to live up to the hype. After all, why should it change now?

The hope is this is not the final time the Rays face the Yankees this year. What our national pastime needs is another serving of both teams in October.

Somehow, baseball fans will not have a problem with it.

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Rays manager Joe Maddon has been called unorthodox, outspoken, diligent, eccentric, eclectic, sociable, optimistic, passionate and wise. No one thought of him as a spokesman for a new stadium, but he changed that thinking after the Rays’ 8-6 loss to the Twins Thursday afternoon.

Right after the game, Maddon talked about the catwalk’s affect on the game as to why the Rays need a new stadium. Jason Kubel’s popup fell on the A-Ring catwalk of the stadium, which meant it was a hit, and it led the Twins to score the go-ahead run in the ninth inning.

This rule does not make sense, but that’s the way it goes. The Twins will take it after blowing a 6-1 lead in the eighth inning on a grand slam by Jason Bartlett, which tied the game at six. It’s a tough way to lose a game for the Rays.

Funny thing is if it benefit the Rays, Maddon would say nothing and the other manager would complain. It’s rare Maddon would talk about bad luck in games, so he had something in mind.

It came down to Maddon pleasing his bosses in campaigning for a new stadium. It’s no secret the Rays want a new ballpark. They can’t survive as a franchise by not making revenue at Tropicana Field.

Anytime there is an opportunity to promote a new stadium, the Rays will expose the weakness of that place and mention it at ad nauseam. It’s annoying, but it’s the only way the team will get their message across.

Blackmailing or extortion is the name of the game in professional sports. Since Stuart Sternberg brought the Rays, all he has done is talk about the need for a new ballpark. Last month, he threatened to sell the team if he does not get what he wants. The public has to put up with these tactics, and they will continue to do so with no choice.

Minnesotans dealt with this show with the Twins for two decades, and it wasn’t a fun experience for them. In fact, they are already tired about the Vikings dealing with the politicians for a new football stadium.

The Twins threatened to move the team to North Carolina in an attempt to get their new stadium, but the state of Minnesota never fell for it, and the Twins remained in Minnesota in the late nineties.

Then, there was a threat of contraction. Major League Baseball considered contracting two clubs. The Expos were one of them, but there was a mystery team out there.

It was revealed the Twins were that team. The late Twins owner Carl Pohlad wanted to contract the club after years of not getting a stadium.

Pohlad was going to get his wish, but there was just one problem. The Twins had a winning season in 2001, and fans started following them again. When Minnesota found out the Twins were in danger of being contracted, the public reacted with outrage. The Twins eventually were forced to stay at the Metrodome because of their lease.

The team continued to play winning baseball in the next few years with playoff appearances to show for it. This gave Pohlad one more shot of getting a new stadium, and after dealing with contraction, Minnesota funded a new stadium for the Twins in 2006. Today, it’s called Target Field.

It can happen for the Rays. Odds are they will get a new stadium in the St. Petersburg area. Forget this team going to Tampa because of their long lease at Tropicana Field. St. Petersburg will raise a stink with that lease, so the best way to satisfy the government officials is to get a new stadium over there.

Make no mistake. This is going to be a painful process. No new stadiums are formed without controversy or debate. Look for anti-stadium folks and pro-stadium folks to duke it out in court or in the streets for attention purposes.

The fact there has not been a movement of getting a new park is discouraging at this point. Right now, the Rays are just looking at places, but no town is ready to step up and find that land for a new park. It does not help Sternberg wants the public to pay for everything.

The only way a movement can be made is if this team goes to the postseason on a consistent basis, and at least, makes several World Series appearances. The Rays have an opportunity to go to the World Series for the second time in three years, and that can only speed things up.

The Rays talked about how it would be unfair if the division or the wild-card is determined by this game. Who are they kidding? Does anyone think they buy this nonsense?

Maddon and his players know it will come down to how they play the final two months of the season. August 6 will not be the difference maker when one looks at the fact the Rays play the Yankees seven times in September.

It came down to them working up something to get a new park going. It had an effect for at least an hour. During the postgame show, fans called in and ripped the place.

No doubt this made Rays president Matt Silverman and Sternberg giddy at this reaction. Of course, it will simmer down by today. Players will go out and play, and fans will focus on their jobs and paying the bills rather than worrying about funding a park for a billionaire.

The Rays will continue to complain about that place until they get what they want.

They will come up with creative ways to do so. Maybe for their next trick, they can use a postseason series loss to whine about the Trop if bad things happen to the Rays.

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The Rays talked about Jeremy Hellickson going back to spring training. They felt he was untouchable when it came to acquiring a hitter.

On Monday night, Hellickson made his Major League debut against the Twins. It was a spot start appearance, and nothing more. He was going to be in the minors after the game was over, and that proved to be the case.

Still, the 23-year old right-hander knew he had to go out there and perform. It’s only human nature to go out and make an impression. The first impression comes a long way to being accepted by teammates and the coaching staff.

Hellickson had the Rays talking by allowing two runs and three hits in seven innings. It was good enough to earn his first victory of what should be a great career.

Just watching the kid pitch, it bears resemblance to Matt Garza. Hellickson blew the Twins away with fastballs at 96 miles per hour, and he worked fast to get his outs. Not with the stuff he had all night.

He retired the first ten men in a row to start the game. He used all of sorts of pitches to get his outs whether it’s the breaking ball, curveball, change-up or the fastball.

The Twins had no idea of what to do as the game went on. They were helpless after the fifth inning. Sure, they received a home run by Jason Kubel to make it a 4-2 game, but there was no way Hellickson was going to blow this game away.

Hellickson had one bad inning in the fourth when he gave up a walk, hit and a run, but he minimized the damage by giving up a run. The Twins could have taken the lead with runners at first and third with two outs, but he struck out Jim Thome to get out of it after Thome tried to foul off several Hellickson’s pitches.

No one is perfect. Pitchers will have a bad inning, but the key to a good start is how a pitcher reacts under adversity. Hellickson was not fazed. He expected to get out of jams.

The Rays pitchers find a way to make it look easy when it comes to pitching. They know how to get hitters out by getting strikeouts. The organization has done a good job of molding pitchers to pitch.

It wasn’t surprising to see Hellickson flourish in a jam when one looks at the way the Rays train their pitchers.

Bert Blyeven must have liked the fact Hellickson threw 107 pitches. The Twins TV color analyst likes to see starters go at least eight or nine innings per start, and he  moans about young starters being babied with the pitch count.

Hellickson’s stuff was sliding late in the game, but he found a way to still get the Twins out. He pitched deep in the game, which is something that is unheard of with rookies. He relished trying to go for a complete game, but Rays manager Joe Maddon ended his night after seven innings.

If Maddon had his way, Hellickson would go for the complete game. The Rays relievers have been overworked lately. Maddon’s bosses would be outraged to see a rookie pull a Kerry Wood and threw 130 pitches.

It’s hard to blame management for being cautious on the kid.

Even if Hellickson stunk, the Rays wouldn’t be down on him, and they shouldn’t. They know he is capable of getting outs with his stuff. They want him to be what David Price was in 2008, which is being a reliever in the playoffs.

Hellickson could be a guy that can either keep the game from being a blowout or protecting a lead late. He can be valuable in that regard, and this was why he was going to get a look this year.

There’s a lot to like about him from watching this game.

What’s scary is he can be even better than this.

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This Baseball Digest writer suggested the Rays trade James Shields for a hitter in the trade deadline, and he questioned why Joe Maddon would start the struggling
Shields in the divisional showdown against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium several weeks ago.

Good thing he is just a guy with an opinion not a baseball manager or the president of a team’s baseball operations. If he ran or managed the Rays, they would not
be the team they are today.

Since the post All-Star Break, Shields won three straight games prior to his start against the Yankees on Sunday afternoon. His ERA was at 4.88 despite the winning streak, but disregard that for a second. Shields has gone deep in games, and he found the location to throw strikes in those three victories. Those are things Shields could not do in the first few months of the season.

Sunday’s performance showed Shields is back to being the bulldog pitcher the Rays expect him to be. He hit his spots well, and the Yankees had a hard time of finding a way to disrupt his change-up.

Shields started off well by pitching inside to Derek Jeter couple of times to start the game, getting newly acquired Lance Berkman out on two pitches and striking out Mark Teixeira with a heavy diet of fastball.

In the second inning, Shields ran into trouble. He gave up a couple of hits after getting Robinson Cano out, and just like that, Shields was in a jam with runners at first and third. Anyone think the Yankees were going to take the lead with two men on and one out?

No one could have blamed others for feeling that way, but Shields had other ideas. He struck out Curtis Granderson with a change-up, and Austin Kearns popped up meekly to end the threat.

This was the only opportunity the Yankees would get against Shields. After that, he shut the Yankees down for the rest of the day.

Shields was locked in from the third inning by being ahead of the count. At one point, he struck out six in a row.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi had a secret weapon waiting for Shields, and he used it in the seventh inning with one on and two outs. After intending to give Alex Rodriguez a day off just to get his mind off the home run milestone he is pursuing, here was Rodriguez with a chance not only to get that 600th home run of his career, but to give the momentum to the Yankees.

Instead, Rodriguez represented the 10th strikeout for Shields.

Shields could have went eight innings, but with his pitch count approaching 120,  Maddon elected to end his day with 116 pitches. The Rays starter finished the day by allowing four hits, striking out 11, and walking one in 7.1 innings.

The best way to describe this is dominance.

It was a vintage performance from Shields to say the least. It brought back memories from couple of years ago when he dominated the AL East teams.

Maddon mentioned this was the best performance he ever saw out of Shields. Maybe the Rays manager was caught up in the moment, but it’s hard to believe this was Shields’ best performance ever. Shields’ best performance came when he pitched a shutout against the Red Sox at Fenway Park couple of years ago in April. He blew the Red Sox away by throwing fastballs at every Red Sox hitter.

Shields’ recent starts have been encouraging, and if he can duplicate more performances like Sunday, the Rays’ starting rotation gets even better. The Rays have a good starting trio in David Price, Matt Garza, and Jeff Niemann. Shields makes it better with his postseason experience. He was the team’s best postseason pitcher couple of years ago.

With him, it’s all about confidence. If he can find his command of his pitches, he can go on a roll like he did Sunday afternoon.

Comparing his starts in May to his recent starts, there’s a change in demeanor. Shields was frustrated on the mound when he struggled. He was intimidated by the hitters at the time, but lately, that has not been the case. On Sunday, it was his turn to intimidate the Yankees.

It was hard to believe Shields would get back to the level he was two years ago. He looked done going back to last year. Teams figured him out by either homering off him
or hitting line drives off him, which inflated his ERA at either four or five. His fastball looked dead, and that’s his bread and butter pitch.

There were reasons to be concerned about him.

To Shields’ credit, his strikeouts were still there despite his struggles. He felt it was a matter of time until he got it together.  He finally mixed his change-up and fastball together, and that helped him to be successful again.

After seeing him in July and Sunday, it’s okay to call him Big Game James again.

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The Yankees and Rays faced each other for the weekend series at St. Petersburg. This series has its significance not only for the standings, but it came down to which team made their moves.

On this Saturday, it was the Yankees that outmaneuvered the Rays in bolstering the club, and then after the deadline was over, the Yankees beat the Rays on the scoreboard to even the series at one.

The Yankees came out on top as always when it comes to trade deadline day. It’s been that way forever, and that’s never going to change. When a franchise makes money like the Yankees made forever, they can afford to do these things.

The next time Hal Steinbrenner talks about how his team is going to run on a budget, just react with guffaw. The late George Steinbrenner used to talk about how he would like to have his team on a budget too, but he wasn’t fooling anyone.

The Yankees acquired Lance Berkman and Austin Kearns Friday night, and before yesterday’s game, they acquired Kerry Wood. Meanwhile, all the Rays could muster was acquiring Chad Qualls from the Diamondbacks, and he was only acquired after they found out Grant Balfour would lose time after a left rib injury.

It does not take a baseball neophyte to know who came out good here.

The Yankees did not need to do anything. They are good enough to win it all with the roster as it is, but they found a way to get it done. The Rays didn’t.

What should be galling is the Yankees got their reinforcements by giving up nothing. That’s the advantage the Yankees have, which teams are willing to unload salary for the Yankees to pay though the Astros will pay Berkman’s salary.

The Rays should have found a way to get at least a designated hitter. The Rays tried, but trying is not good enough. The Rays lineup have too many easy outs, and five of their hitters are hitting at .235.

To compound their problems, Carlos Pena left the game Saturday night with a sore foot and Ben Zobrist missed the series against the Yankees. Both are day-to-day.

Rays president of baseball operations Andrew Freidman knew he had to do something. This offense isn’t cutting it.

There’s no question runs will be at a minimum in the postseason, and the Rays have several easy outs in their lineup. That’s an advantage the opposing pitcher will have
in October, which is why playoff teams believe the Rays are vulnerable.

In fact, there is no guarantee the Rays will make the playoffs. The Rays have a nice cushion in the wild-card lead, and they kept up with the Yankees by winning consistently, but a long losing streak takes place if the team is in a hitting rut.

We saw that in June when the Rays struggled to hit, and they went on a long losing streak.  It can happen again, and the final two months of the season are not the right time to struggle.

Adam Dunn, who the Rays were rumored to get, was the perfect fit to what the Rays are looking for. He will strike out often, but at least he is going to rake the ball out of the park. The Rays could have gotten Josh Willingham, Hideki Matsui or Luke Scott.

No question the Rays are in a tough position. As a small-market team, they can’t afford to give up prospects with the idea those guys will be the core players
next year. Still, they can afford to give up at least one prospect. If Wade Davis is what teams wanted for a hitter, that deal should have been done. The Rays have plenty of depth when it comes to starters.

The Rays will talk about how it’s not a lost cause if they don’t get a deal. They will mention that Dan Johnson and Desmond Jennings can proven an offensive boost to the team.

The problem with that thinking is it’s too much to ask out of rookies to make a difference. Those two have to learn how to hit in the majors, and that’s a tough adjustment to make right away.

No one should have been surprised the Rays did not make a deal after what Joe Maddon said to the media prior to Friday night’s game.

Maddon expressed no optimism that a deal would happen. He talked about how it will be the eleventh hour, but he also mentioned options at their farm system.

Maybe the Rays find that hitter after the non-waiver trade deadline. It’s possible, but there’s a good chance the Yankees or the Red Sox will do whatever it takes to block the Rays. The Rays couldn’t take that risk.

If failing to make a deal discouraged the baseball public in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area, the game did not turn out to be better.

The Yankees and the Rays traded runs for most of the night, and in the end, the Yankees won the battle on Robinson Cano’s home run off Rafael Soriano in the ninth inning. Mariano Rivera saved it for the Yankees in protecting a 5-4 lead.

The Rays deserved to lose because they knew they could not get involved in a home run derby race with the Yankees. It never ends up well for any team. To beat the Yankees, teams need to shut them down for several innings.

Now, the Yankees have the edge to go win the series with CC Sabathia on the mound tomorrow afternoon.

Saturday simply was a day to forget for the Rays.

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The Rays kicked off an 11-game homestand Monday night by playing the first game of a four-game set against the Tigers. After the Rays are finished with the Tigers, they will face the Yankees this weekend and the Twins next week.

Tigers starter Max Scherzer started off the game by retiring six in a row, and then he wiggled himself out of a jam a couple of times in the game. Through six innings, he matched Matt Garza by pitching six shutout innings.

It appeared the Rays were going to make a mediocre pitcher look great as usual.

Scherzer approached the Rays similar to how Fausto Carmona approached
them by getting ahead in the count and forcing the Rays to swing at pitches. Like Carmona, Scherzer got the Rays out on strikes and groundouts.

Once a starter does well against the Rays for seven innings, the Rays tend to mail it in rather than coming up with a plan to get to the pitcher. Scherzer loaded the bases, but he had two outs on his side and odds were good he was going to get out of it with the way he pitched all night.

Then, Matt Joyce belted the ball out of the park for a grand slam to give the Rays a 4-0 lead.

That was the end of the Tigers’ night with the way Garza was pitching. It was also the end of ridiculing the Rays for not beating up an average pitcher when they should. For one night, the Rays silenced critics about how they needed to bat.

The attention shifted to Garza, who quietly was pitching a no-hitter. The cowbell fanatics did not notice it until the eighth inning. They were more consumed about how the Rays were going to beat Scherzer.

From there, the acoustic level of those cowbells grew higher at every pitch Garza threw.

In the eighth inning, Garza ramped it up by striking out Brennan Boesch and Ryan Raburn to end the eighth. He received a standing ovation after that inning, and everyone became excited with the ninth inning coming up.

Rays announcer DeWayne Statts knew something special was going on in the sixth inning, but he made it a point not to talk about it. He never made any reference about what Garza was doing for eight innings even though he knew what was going on.

It’s part of Statts’ announcing policy, in which he makes a point not to talk about a Ray pitching a perfect game or a no-hitter because of a silly superstitious rule. Announcers never mention a pitcher is pitching a no-hitter for the fear of jinxing him.

Statts made references to a no-hitter in the ninth inning even though he never mentioned “no-hitter” on the air. He talked about how Garza has a chance to do something special on this night, and he and Kevin Kennedy analyzed how Garza put himself in the position he was in the ninth inning by pitching well most of the night.

Rays sideline reporter Todd Kalas talked about how fans were ready to embrace this great moment in the ninth inning. The cowbells amped up even louder heading into the inning.

Facing the Tigers’ hitters in the bottom of their order to start the ninth, Garza had to like his chances. Dom Kelly, Gerald Laird, and Ramon Santiago were not exactly hitters that fear pitchers.

Kelly hit it hard, but Reid Brignac positioned himself well to make a good catch and get Kelly out.  Laird tried to get couple of good at-bats against Garza, but in the end, Garza’s fastball overwhelmed Laird. Striking out Laird helped Garza get two more outs.

It was up to Santiago to ruin it for the night, but Santiago struck out.

The party was on at Tropicana Field.

Fans rejoiced.

Garza hugged everyone on the Rays. Statts finally blurted out the no-hitter despite being stoic about the whole thing.

After seeing a couple of pitchers no-hit the Rays this season, the baseball gods were kind to the Rays by giving them their first no-hitter in franchise history. The Mets and the Padres are the only teams in franchise history that do not have a no-hitter.

To do this in front of a home crowd has to be special for Garza. Anyone throwing a no-hitter will be proud of this accomplishment. It’s hard to do despite the fact many
pitchers threw a no-hitter during this season.

For the Rays, it has to be something good after being a victim of no-hitters several times. The reaction of the Rays in celebrating what happened Monday night said it all.

For the Tigers, being a victim of Garza’s no-hitter represented a frustrating post-All-Star break start so far. They lost six straight to start the second half, and they won three out of 12 games overall since July 16th. They lost a couple of their best hitters to the disabled list in Magglio Ordonez and Carlos Guillen. It’s no wonder why Jim Leyland wanted to get tossed in the fourth inning after he argued a call about B.J. Upton being safe.

Garza said all the right things about being more worried about getting his team in October than worrying about his feat. Of course, he was smiling throughout all this and enjoyed the adulation. He even liked being hit in the face with a pie.

When a team is having a great season, no-hitters take place. Maybe it wasn’t surprising to see the Rays finally get one.

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The Yankees paid tribute to Bob Sheppard and George Steinbrenner prior to Friday night’s divisional showdown between the Rays and the Yankees. Sheppard and Steinbrenner passed away this week.

The Yankees celebrated Steinbrenner’s accomplishments by doing a video montage of him. After the montage, the fans gave a heartfelt standing ovation. Mariano Rivera put roses on home plate to honor Steinbrenner, and Derek Jeter spoke about the bombastic Yankees owner and the soft-spoken public address announcer.

Steinbrenner would have been proud of the festivities, and he would have been proud of the way his team played in their 5-4 victory over the Rays. Steinbrenner always talked about how he is proud of his team when they don’t give up. That was the case of last night’s game. The Yankees trailed for the early part of the game, but they managed to cut the deficit, tie it, and win it in the end.

The Rays helped pave the way for the Yankees to make this comeback possible. The Rays could have put the game away if they did not strand runners at third several times during the middle innings. It proved to be costly in the end.

There was a feeling the Yankees were going to make the Rays pay for not maximizing their opportunity, and it proved to be true. They tied the game at three in the sixth inning on solo home runs by Robinson Cano and Jorge Posada. After the Rays took a 4-3 lead in the seventh inning, the Yankees tied it at four when Nick Swisher homered off Rays setup man Joaquin Benoit in the eighth inning.

From there, the Yankees were not going to be denied. David Robertson and Mariano Rivera shut down the Rays hitters, and the Yankees celebrated with a victory on Swisher’s single in the ninth inning.

Here’s what the Rays or any baseball team must understand when they play the Yankees. When the opportunity is there to end the game, the Yankees opponent
must finish off the Yankees. They are only asking for trouble by not getting it done. That was the case for the Rays last night.

Give CC Sabathia credit for pitching his team out of a jam several times, but championship teams know how to end it when the opportunity is there. As good as the Rays are, they are not ready to be a championship team just yet. The Rays fail whenever it’s time to execute with runners in scoring position.

Too many times, the Rays tend to let the opposing pitcher off the hook whenever he is in a jam. Friday night’s game was a typical example of that. This may work against the bad teams, but against the Yankees and the Red Sox, it becomes an epic fail.

The Yankees are the opposite in this situation. Let’s say the Yankees took a 3-1 lead and they had a chance to end the game in the fifth inning with runners at second and third or with the bases loaded. Know what they would have done? They would make the pitcher pay for his mistakes, and end it right there.

That’s what the Yankees do. They find a way to win even if it looks like they are out of it or if a pitcher overpowers them with stuff. They are the only team that knows how to beat elite pitchers in baseball. It’s no wonder why they won a championship last year, and why they can do it again.

Talk about buying talent, but it takes a special team to come together and know how to win games. The Yankees have a knack of doing just that. They did that during the mid-to-late nineties, and they discovered that magic back last year.

Let’s tell it like it is. The Yankees outsmarted the Rays. They knew how to get the home runs, and they knew how to put the runners in a position to score.

This was a disappointing loss to say the least. When the Rays have their worst pitcher starting in this series and he pitched well until he lost it in the sixth inning, this is one the Rays should not have let get away. It’s easy to go blame James Shields for giving up home runs to Cano and Posada and tying the game, but it’s not Shields’ fault that he had to pitch with no room for error in the sixth inning.

Maybe Shields goes eight innings if this game was a 5-1 game. The Rays had an opportunity to pick Shields up when the game was tied at three. They did, but they should have gotten more than one run in that seventh inning.

Whenever a team wins the first game of the series, they have a better chance of winning the series. Now, the Rays need to find a way to win today or else they could be in a position to get swept on Sunday. If the Rays get swept, the Yankees don’t have to pay attention to what the Rays are doing anymore with a nice cushion lead in the division.

The Yankees talk about how they respect the Rays publicly, but privately, they look at the Rays as a cute little team. That’s not meant to be a compliment. The Yankees don’t respect anyone. Why should they? Champions never pay attention to other teams. They are arrogant enough to think if they play their game, they are going to win.

The Yankees earned the right to act that way. When a team wins many championships, there’s no reason to fear the other team. Until teams figure out a way to beat the Yankees consistently, the Yankees will go use that approach.

It’s up to the Rays to change that perception. So far, they are 3-3 against the Bronx Bombers, but it’s not going to make the Yankees fear them. Even if the Rays went 6-0 against the Yankees so far this season, the Yankees will not change their approach.

For that to change, the Rays need to beat them more often than not. Last night was winnable. A message could have been sent that the Rays are a team the Yankees need to take seriously.

Just like that, the Yankees have a chance now to take the series or get a sweep. That team is finally healthy, and most of their players are peaking at the right time. The second half is where a team distances themselves from the competition in the division.

It’s up to the Rays to make it a race. They get two more cracks at it this weekend.

Here’s hoping the Rays know how to pad in some runs in case they have a lead. No lead is ever safe with the Yankees.

The Rays had an opportunity to show they can be in the Yankees’ level, but on this night, they showed the Yankees they have ways to go until they reach that level.

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