Damn...

Well, so much for 3 of 4 from the Yanks, though I have to say, I'm perfectly happy with a split (which is basically what this is going to be, seeing as Hammel pitches tomorrow). Our pitching staff game us another solid performance today and definitely gave our offense a chance to win this one, but Wang, Joba, and Mo out-shone us today. But hey, since when have the Rays ever been able to say that they've been in every game that they've played against the Yanks? This is certainly an encouraging thing.

On a negative note, though, Shields didn't have the best day out there. He did manage to limit the Yanks to 2 runs over 5 innings, which is always a good thing, but he let up a heck of a lot of baserunners. Not many walks at least, but the Yanks got a lot of hits off of him. This probably means nothing besides that the Yankee offense woke up a little bit today, but we've just come to expect better from Shields. In the end, though, he only let up 2 runs and that's what counts the most.

One slightly worrisome piece of news: Longoria has yet to get a hit or draw a walk in his first three AAA games this year. I know it's a small sample size and all, but come on man....we need you to destroy the league so you can be up in a month. Start mashing the ball already, geez.

I really want to try this sometime this season...

Also, add this book to my wishlist, for sure. Highly recommended by RJ Anderson from DRaysBay, probably the one blogger whose opinion I respect the most (well, minus anyone from this site, obviously).

I'm back!

Well, that was a long hiatus. I certainly did not mean to miss out on posting for the entire month of March, especially considering some very interesting developments happened with the Rays during that month. Thankfully, Joe was awesome enough to cover the Elliot Johnson incident and everything. I think I was in Ireland during the time that had all broken out, so that's my excuse for not being right on top of things.

But anyway, take a look at the Rays! 3-1 and they've knocked the Yanks around some during these past two games. Sure, a couple games don't necesarily mean anything in the long run, but if you're a Rays fan, you can't help but be really happy right now. Since when have the Rays ever done something like this in the past? They've gotten solid starting pitching so far, awesome bullpen outings, and they've managed to win two games in a row on the road. Heck, the Rays were atrocious on the road last year (29-52), while going 37-44 at home. If the Rays can keep up this intensity and, most importantly, pitching, things are definitely looking up for the season. Of course, I'm not going to expect E-Jax to maintain his 1.50 ERA or anything, but he did show a lot of resilience last night, settling down after starting off really shaky. At this point, Jason Hammel is going to have to pitch ridiculously well tonight to keep his spot in the rotation when Kaz comes back...

More Ray news will be forthcoming, but for now, I'm going to leave you with a link that I've found particularly interesting recently. It's an interesting look at the DH and why pitchers should never hit. Sorry, Joe, but I actually might agree with this article. The AL certainly has its pluses and honestly, I'm all for tradition and keeping things the way they always have been, but pitchers hitting doesn't seem to make much sense these days. The DH has permeated every level of the game down to high school ball and is even there in the minors, so why should things only be different in the NL? But anyway, read the article for yourself and decide.

Why Pitchers Should Never Hit