The Reds catcher Ryan Hanigan blasted a three-run homer in the fourth inning. Not only did this give the Reds the first points of the game, it gave the Reds the advantage they needed the rest of the game, to take the series against the Reds.
James Shields allowed more runs in that one swing of the bat then he has allowed in his last three games, which all were complete games. It was Hanigan's first home run since April 3 when he blasted two against the Brewers.
Edison Volquez started on the mound for the Reds. He pitched 6.1 innings, and allowed three runs off four hits. Two of the runs allowed were a result of Evan Longoria's double in the sixth inning.
Longoria once again stayed out of his home slump with a two-run double that gave the Rays their first runs of the game. The Rays were still losing after this because of a three run blast earlier in the game. These were Longoria's fifth and sixth RBIs at home this entire year: three of those six have come during this series. Nevertheless, Longoria has brought in thirteen runs in the past six games.
BJ Upton stepped up in the next inning and hit a solo home run in what would be the final run of the ball game. This was his fourth homerun in his last six games.
Edison Volquez, the Reds starting pitcher on Wednesday, went through the first four innings with only two baserunners -- both got on base on walks -- until Casey Kotchman got the Rays first hit of the game.
What may be one of the biggest stories of this game, Johnny Damon tied Ted Williams for 71st on the all-time hit list."You know what?" BJ Upton said about Johnny Damon,"I want him to keep making history as long as he is here. It's fun to watch. I'm happy for him."
Reds took the best two-out-of-three series at Tropicana Field To go along with that, the Rays still only have one all-time win against the Reds franchise.
Showing posts with label MLB Baseball Rays Reds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MLB Baseball Rays Reds. Show all posts
June 28, 2011
Rays Corner- The Rays can't hit the ball, Reds win ball game in Gomes
The Cincinnati Reds called the shots tonight. Everything went right for them, while the Rays could not hit a single thing. The inadequate blunders in the field by the Rays, led to points on the scoreboard for the Reds.
Reds starting pitcher Mike Leake was a major part of the victory, as well as former Ray, Johnny Gomes.
Gomes went 1-3, with a solo home run that hit the farthest cat walk in his return to Tropicana Field. This was part of a two-run fourth inning that gave the Reds a 4-0 lead. Gomes has now hit nine fair balls off of the cat walk: that is the most by any player since Tropicana Field opened in 1998.
Most of the fans in the stadium we're cheering for Gomes after his homerun. There multiple signs all over the stadium that were fan-made. Gomes was an established player in the Rays franchise before he became a free-agent after the 2008 season.
Gomes wasn't even the most crucial part of the offense for the Reds though. It was Brandon Phillips who led the Reds offense with four hits, two runs, and two RBIs.
As for the Rays hitting, it was one of the worst performances I have seen from this team in a few weeks. If you are shut out by a pitcher with a 3.89 ERA then that is a very bad performance. The way the Rays have been hitting the ball as of late, I did not expect this by any means. It's just sad that it had to happen at home. The stands are empty enough as it is, you're not going add on to the slim 19,891 person crowd with an offensive performance like this. That is a completely different story though.
Longoria played, once again, without his batting gloves. This time, his superstition didn't work for him: he went 0-2 with a walk. He was thrown out on an odd fly ball scenario in the sixth inning. Ben Zobrist was on second and Longoria on first when Matt Joyce hit a low fly ball to left-center field. The Reds left fielder Fred Lewis was tracking down the ball and Longoria thought that Lewis was not going to get to the ball. Longoria rounded second and passed up Ben Zobrist, who was tagging up. Longoria kept on running and ended up passing Zobrist on the base path. This resulted in an automatic out for Longoria; Zobrist tagged up and ran to third. That play ruined a good-looking inning that had two on with no outs. Casey Kotchman hit a ground ball to end that inning. That was probably the best chance in the entire game for the Rays to score.
That wasn't Longoria's only mistake of the game. He also was charged with an error at third base when he misplayed a grounder in the fourth inning.
Some of the Reds hitters had Jermy Hellickson (7-7) figured out, which accounted for his four runs against him (three earned runs). Although, Hellickson usually isn't a strikeout thrower, last night he tossed nine strikeouts despite pitching only six innings.
Cesar Ramos came in to replace Hellickson when he ran out of gas. Ramos was in .1 innings where he let up two hits, and let up a run that was not earned. Adam Russell came in after that and pitched for 1.2 innings without allowing a single hit. To finish the game Andy Sonnastine came in and allowed only one hit.
The Rays just swept the Astros in a three-game series in which they scored 26 runs. They certainly were astonished by the way they played today. Hopefully they can come out tomorrow with more motivation for the home crowd.
"That was a bad game," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "We just aren't, offensively, playing the same game here. The answer, I don't know what it is. I honestly don't." Maddon is right. How does this happen? Are the players unmotivated? What is it that give the Rays such an offense shift from one game to another? No one knows these answers, just as Joe Maddon pointed out in his post-game press conference.
Let's hope the Rays can improve off of this horrid performance.
Reds starting pitcher Mike Leake was a major part of the victory, as well as former Ray, Johnny Gomes.
Gomes went 1-3, with a solo home run that hit the farthest cat walk in his return to Tropicana Field. This was part of a two-run fourth inning that gave the Reds a 4-0 lead. Gomes has now hit nine fair balls off of the cat walk: that is the most by any player since Tropicana Field opened in 1998.
Most of the fans in the stadium we're cheering for Gomes after his homerun. There multiple signs all over the stadium that were fan-made. Gomes was an established player in the Rays franchise before he became a free-agent after the 2008 season.
Gomes wasn't even the most crucial part of the offense for the Reds though. It was Brandon Phillips who led the Reds offense with four hits, two runs, and two RBIs.
As for the Rays hitting, it was one of the worst performances I have seen from this team in a few weeks. If you are shut out by a pitcher with a 3.89 ERA then that is a very bad performance. The way the Rays have been hitting the ball as of late, I did not expect this by any means. It's just sad that it had to happen at home. The stands are empty enough as it is, you're not going add on to the slim 19,891 person crowd with an offensive performance like this. That is a completely different story though.
Longoria played, once again, without his batting gloves. This time, his superstition didn't work for him: he went 0-2 with a walk. He was thrown out on an odd fly ball scenario in the sixth inning. Ben Zobrist was on second and Longoria on first when Matt Joyce hit a low fly ball to left-center field. The Reds left fielder Fred Lewis was tracking down the ball and Longoria thought that Lewis was not going to get to the ball. Longoria rounded second and passed up Ben Zobrist, who was tagging up. Longoria kept on running and ended up passing Zobrist on the base path. This resulted in an automatic out for Longoria; Zobrist tagged up and ran to third. That play ruined a good-looking inning that had two on with no outs. Casey Kotchman hit a ground ball to end that inning. That was probably the best chance in the entire game for the Rays to score.
That wasn't Longoria's only mistake of the game. He also was charged with an error at third base when he misplayed a grounder in the fourth inning.
Some of the Reds hitters had Jermy Hellickson (7-7) figured out, which accounted for his four runs against him (three earned runs). Although, Hellickson usually isn't a strikeout thrower, last night he tossed nine strikeouts despite pitching only six innings.
Cesar Ramos came in to replace Hellickson when he ran out of gas. Ramos was in .1 innings where he let up two hits, and let up a run that was not earned. Adam Russell came in after that and pitched for 1.2 innings without allowing a single hit. To finish the game Andy Sonnastine came in and allowed only one hit.
The Rays just swept the Astros in a three-game series in which they scored 26 runs. They certainly were astonished by the way they played today. Hopefully they can come out tomorrow with more motivation for the home crowd.
"That was a bad game," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "We just aren't, offensively, playing the same game here. The answer, I don't know what it is. I honestly don't." Maddon is right. How does this happen? Are the players unmotivated? What is it that give the Rays such an offense shift from one game to another? No one knows these answers, just as Joe Maddon pointed out in his post-game press conference.
Let's hope the Rays can improve off of this horrid performance.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)