SB Nation Tampa Bay - Rays Vs. Rangers: Rays Avoid Sweep, Are Within Half Game Of Wild Card

Rays Vs. Rangers Final Score: Rays Win 8-4, Are Half-Game Behind Baltimore In Wild Card Race

2012-08-30T02:19:28Z

The Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Texas Rangers on Thursday night, winning 8-4 to break a four-game losing streak and avoid a sweep in the three-game series. The Rays scored three runs each in the first and second innings and were able to hold on to the lead all the way through. Alex Cobb picks up the win for the Rays.

Evan Longoria had a hot night at the plate for the Rays, following an RBI double from Ben Zobrist with a two-run homer, and adding the final run of the game in the ninth with another home run. B.J. Upton had a three-run shot in the second, and Elliot Johnson contributed a solo home run in the top of the sixth.

The Rays improve to 71-59 with the win. With the Baltimore Orioles losing to the Chicago White Sox, the Rays are a half-game away from the second American League Wild Card.

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Tampa Bay Rays: Joe Maddon Defends Carlos Pena

2012-08-29T23:24:32Z

Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon defended 1B Carlos Pena as his team prepared to take on the Texas Rangers on Wednesday. With the Rays mired in a four-game losing streak and Pena hitting .188, Maddon told the Tampa Bay Times that Pena had been unfairly cast as a "whipping boy." "I refuse to let people just jump on Carlos,'' Maddon said.

"I really try to look at the good with the bad and try to balance it out as well as I possibly can. For me, there is no whipping boy on this team. We win together, we lose together. Right now, we're just coming off this great streak and we were the next best thing since the '27 Yankees and all of a sudden we lose four tough games and everybody's going negative-town on us, negative-ville. I ain't going there man.''

Pena is hitting just .130 in his last ten games, and has gone without a hit in his last five. He approached Maddon after Tampa Bay's 1-0 loss to the Rangers Tuesday and the two spoke in Maddon's office for about 30 minutes.

For more on the Rays, please be sure to check out our blog DRaysBay and SB Nation Tampa Bay for all the latest news and updates.

Rays Vs. Rangers Lineup: Rays Hope To Avoid Sweep

2012-08-29T20:42:22Z

The Tampa Bay Rays look to avoid a sweep against the Texas Rangers in tonight's series finale. They'll start RHP Alex Cobb against Texas southpaw Matt Harrison. Cobb checks in at 8-8 on the season, with a 4.32 ERA. Harrison comes in at 15-7, with a 3.07 ERA.

The lineups are as follows:

Tampa Bay Rays

LF Desmond Jennings
CF B.J. Upton
SS Ben Zobrist
DH Evan Longoria
1B Jeff Keplinger
2B Ryan Roberts
3B Elliot Johnson
C Jose Molina
RF Sam Fuld

SP Alex Cobb

Texas Rangers

DH Ian Kinsler
SS Elvis Andrus
CF Josh Hamilton
3B Adrian Beltre
RF Nelson Cruz
2B Michael Young
LF David Murphy
1B Mitch Moreland
C Luis Martinez

SP Matt Harrison

The Rays enter tonight's contest a game and a half out of the wild card, while the Rangers have a five-and-a-half game lead in the American League West. Texas won last night's game 1-0, and won Monday night's game 6-5. The Rays follow this series with a four-game set in Toronto.

For more on the Rays, visit DraysBay.

Rays Vs. Rangers: Game Preview, TV Info And More

2012-08-29T14:00:22Z

The AL West has been unkind to Tampa Bay, as the Rays have now lost five straight games to the As and Rangers over the last week. As a result, Tampa Bay has slipped in the AL Wild Card standings behind both Baltimore and Oakland.

On Wednesday night, the Rays will try to avoid being swept when they send Alex Cobb to the mound.

The Rangers will counter with Matt Harrison, a 27-year-old All-Star who has been their most consistent pitcher in 2012.

A win would not only help Tampa in the standings but it could also help their confidence against the two-time defending AL champs, who have knocked the Rays out of the playoffs in each of the last two seasons.

The game will start at 7:05 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on the Sun Sports TV network. Tampa area fans who want to catch it on the radio can check it out on 970 AM.

For the latest on the Tampa Bay Rays, be sure to check out DRays Bay and join the discussion. Head over to Lone Star Ball and SB Nation Dallas for more on the Rangers. Baseball Nation is your source for news and analysis around Major League Baseball.

Rays 1-0 Loss Made Only More Frustrating By Yu Darvish's Bad Command

2012-08-29T12:01:07Z

Recording 7 hits and getting 0 runs is frustrating enough, but when a team gets 6 of those hits in the first five innings -- while their pitcher is holding one of the best offenses to just 1 run -- it is enough to drive a body insane.

In the first five innings of Tuesday's game against the Texas Rangers, the Tampa Bay Rays had 6 hits, including a Luke Scott double, and 2 walks -- a total of 8 baserunners that created 0 runs, leading to a 1-0 Rays loss.

These things happen, though. It's baseball. A pitcher leaves a dozen runners on base one day, and then lets everyone score the next day. And after the Rays squandered their early opportunities, it still seemed like they had a decent chance of taking the 1-0 lead back from the Rangers; pitcher Yu Darvish had shown spotty command and the Rays -- who lead the league in walk rate -- typically feast on spotty command pitchers.

But instead, Darvish shut the Rays down. The Rays broadcasters -- Brian Anderson and DeWayne Staats -- praised Darvish for his final three innings (innings 5, 6 and 7), observing how he locked down the Rays lineup. But in actuality, it was the Rays who locked the Rays down.

Here's a look at Darvish's pitches in the first four innings:

And here's his pitches in the last three innings:

Darvish looks just as zone-adverse through his final three innings as he was in the first four innings. The only difference -- and this made a world of difference -- was that Darvish was keeping his pitches down. He reduced the high, arm-side pitches, but then buried way more pitches low and on or in front of home plate.

The net effect was in an increase in the Rays' hitters aggressiveness. In the first 67 pitches (the first 4 innings), the Rays had 8 swinging strikes. They tried to wait for Darvish to put himself into trouble -- and that's exactly what he did, but he lucked his way out of those early struggles. Then, in the final three frames, the Rays had 11 swinging strikes on 42 pitches.

That's a 12.0% swinging strike rate through the first four, and then a whopping 26.2% swinging strike rate in the final three. Darvish did not appear to gain much control later in his start, but did cut down on the high, arm-side pitches. That small change, coupled with an increasing sense of desperation from the Rays lineup, led to an ugly 1-0 loss for the Rays.

Hopefully against Matt Harrison, the Rays will return to their patient ways, and let the game come to them.

Rays Vs. Rangers Final: Darvish Shuts Out Tampa 1-0

2012-08-29T03:09:12Z

Texas Rangers righthander Yu Darvish hasn't exactly disappointed this year, but his performance -- 12-9 with a 4.31 ERA and 154 innings -- hasn't quite lived up to the hefty price tag that accompanied him to the US.

That wasn't the case on Tuesday night, as the Japanese righthander absolutely dominated the Tampa Bay lineup. There wasn't much the Rays could do, as Darvish struck out ten and walked only two.

As a result, they wasted a strong performance from James Shields, who allowed only four hits to a Texas offense that shellacked David Price on Monday.

The difference in the game was a solo HR from Rangers 2B Ian Kinsler in the fourth inning, as the Rays were once again on the wrong end of a low-scoring affair.

Tampa Bay has now lost five in a row, dropping them below both Baltimore and Oakland and out of the AL playoff picture for now.

Rays Vs. Rangers Score Update: Texas Up 1-0 In 6th

2012-08-29T02:12:18Z

One night after Tampa Bay Rays ace David Price was shelled in Arlington, James Shields has responded by shutting down the potent Texas Rangers offense through six innings.

He's allowed only three hits so far with only one real mistake -- a solo HR by Ian Kinsler in the fourth inning.

Unfortunately, that's been more than enough for Rangers rookie Yu Darvish. The high-priced Japanese import has been inconsistent in his first season in the States, but he's been able to get out of trouble on Tuesday, allowing six hits but no runs. He has 10 strikeouts as well.

The Rays are 1-8 with runners in scoring position tonight, something that's been a problem for their often punch-less offense this season.

Texas has been a nightmare for Tampa, knocking the Rays out of the playoffs in each of the last two seasons. If the current playoff bracket holds up, it looks like Tampa will need to get through the two-time defending AL champions in 2012 as well.

Matt Joyce Leaves Rangers Game With 'Forearm Strain'

2012-08-29T01:31:24Z

Rays outfielder Matt Joyce left Tuesday's game against the Rangers in the second inning due to a left forearm strain. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports Joyce is day-to-day.

In the meantime, Sam Fuld is replacing Joyce in right field against Texas. Joyce struck out swinging in his only at-bat on Tuesday. In Fuld's first plate appearance, he singled to shallow right field.

Joyce is hitting .255 this season, but has a .304 batting average against the Rangers in 46 plate appearances.

The Rangers took a 1-0 lead against the Rays in the bottom of the fourth inning with a solo home run by Ian Kinsler.