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He did it against the Tampa Bay Rays this afternoon. Buehrle struck out six and DeWayne Wise make an acrobatic catch of a struck ball in the 9th inning that was Tampa’s best chance at keeping history from being made.
Buehrle is only the 16th MLB pitcher to throw a perfect game. The last one was done in 2004 by Randy Johnson. Buehrle previously no-hit the Texas Rangers in 2007. This was also the second time the Rays have gone hitless. Derek Lowe threw a no-hitter against them in 2002.
The Nationals keep finding ways to lose. From AP-
Even though he’s batting less than .200, the Tampa Bay Rays continue to show faith in Gabe Kapler.
That loyalty paid Friday night.
One pitch after an error prolonged his at-bat, the slumping Kapler hit a pinch-hit home run that snapped an eighth-inning tie and gave the AL champions a 4-3 victory over the Washington Nationals.
Stuck in a 3-for-31 slide that dropped his batting average to .173, Kapler went deep against Ron Villone (3-2) after first baseman Nick Johnson dropped a pop foul that would have been the third out.
“I was screaming at the ball and I think it heard me and skipped off Nick’s glove,” Kapler said. “I guess I really wanted that opportunity.”
Kapler primarily plays against left-handed pitchers and said he’s extremely appreciative that manager Joe Maddon continues to pencil him into the lineup and bring him off the bench against lefties.
“One of the things I’m most impressed with this season is the fact I’ve struggled fairly significantly, and every time there’s a lefty out there, I get the chance to start,” Kapler said. “It tells me he believes I can get the job done.”
Villone was on his way to an easy one-two-three eighth when Johnson settled under Kapler’s pop foul. He made a slight adjustment at the last moment, but couldn’t hold onto the ball.
“I just missed it. Plain and simple,” Johnson said. “Saw it the whole way, just didn’t catch it.”
With the win the Rays are now .500 barely. Unless Tampa gets it into gear soon, they won’t defend as American League champions.
This news is a definite blow to the team’s chances to repeat as American League champions.
Tampa Bay Rays second baseman Akinori Iwamura will miss the rest of the season with a torn ligament in his left knee.
Iwamura was injured trying to turn a double play in the eighth inning Sunday against the Florida Marlins and was carted off the field.
He will have surgery after the swelling goes down, according to Rays executive vice president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman.
The infielder is in his third season with the Rays after playing in Japan’s Central League. In 44 games, Iwamura was hitting .310 (48-for-155) with no home runs, 16 RBIs and eight stolen bases in nine attempts.
Iwamura is a good offensive second baseman.(Good OB percentage, plus good ability to hit doubles and triples) As a defensive player, he did a good job transitioning to 2nd base from 3rd base. 2nd base is the toughest position other than catcher to play on a baseball team. It is also the one that sees the most injuries. Iwamura is 30 years old, and this injury could have serious career consequences for him.
Tampa will have a tough time replacing Iwamura.
One of the hazards that comes with the Designated hitter rule. From AP-
An error on the Tampa Bay Rays’ official lineup card forced starting pitcher Andy Sonnanstine to bat in Sunday’s game against Cleveland.
The Rays listed Ben Zobrist and Evan Longoria as the third baseman on the card given to the umpires before the start of the game. Longoria was supposed to be the designated hitter.
After the top of the first, in which Zobrist played third, the game was delayed 13 minutes as the umpires discussed the matter among themselves and individually with Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon and Cleveland manager Eric Wedge.
The umpires pulled the Indians off the field midway through the delay.
The Rays lost their DH position due to the error, meaning Sonnanstine replaced Longoria in the third spot of the lineup. Longoria was available to come off the bench.
Once in high school, our coach deliberately tried to re-use a player who had left the game. The other team wasn’t fooled, after one pitch the batter was declared out and the game was over. We were only one run down and the tying run was in scoring position.
The Tampa Bay Ray tied a modern MLB record. From AP-
Carl Crawford tied a modern major league record with six stolen bases to help Tampa Bay beat Boston 5-3 on Sunday for its first series win in nearly a month.
Crawford was 4-for-4 with an RBI and became the fourth player to swipe six bases in a game, joining Eddie Collins, Otis Nixon, and Eric Young.
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The speedy Crawford’s second infield single of the day drove in an insurance run in the eighth, then stole second for the fifth time, bringing the crowd of 32,332 to its feet. The last player to steal six bases in a game was Young for Colorado on June 30, 1996.
Rays fans are probably hoping Crawford’s record game provides a spark to the team. The defending American League champs are 11-15 for the year so far.
No the participants in this year’s World Series aren’t homeless. From the Tampa Tribune-
PHILADELPHIA – The Tampa Bay Rays had to scramble for hotel rooms when Game 5 of the World Series was suspended because of bad weather.
The Rays had booked rooms at the Westin Hotel in downtown Philadelphia only through Monday, believing they would be heading back to St. Petersburg on Tuesday.
When Monday night’s game was suspended because of rain, the Rays found that the rooms they had rented at the Westin were already booked.
After some calls, the team found a hotel that had enough rooms for all the players – the posh Hotel du Pont in downtown Wilmington, Del., about 25 miles south of Citizens Bank Park.
At least the Rays found quality lodgings, even if a bit distant from the ballpark. If the Rays had to be booked into a Days Inn, the team may have had a legitimate grievance.
Cue the sarcastic laughter
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Shades of the 1969 New York Mets? From the Miami Herald-
The Tampa Bay Rays, laughable losers for the first 10 seasons of their existence, became the third team from Florida in the past 12 years to earn a trip to the World Series, dethroning the defending champion Boston Red Sox on Sunday with a 3-1 win in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series.
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Matt Garza, named the ALCS MVP, fired a pitching gem and the Rays survived a close battle, squeaking out just enough runs to edge past the Red Sox. Rays manager Joe Maddon used five pitchers – four from his bullpen – in the eighth inning to snuff out Boston’s best chance for a rally.
David Price struck out J.D. Drew with the bases loaded to kill the threat, and the rookie from Vanderbilt recorded the final three outs to preserve the win and give the Rays the pennant. He got Jed Lowrie on a ground ball to end the game.
I think the Ray’s magic will run out starting Wednesday. The only other times a Florida team(The Marlins in 1997 and 2003) made The World Series, they came out on top. My pick though is for the Philadelphia Phillies to win in seven.
He won 11 of his career 30 wins as a rookie with the 1997 Chicago Cubs. After that arm injuries hampered Gonzalez’ career. RIP.
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CARACAS, Venezuela — Former major league pitcher Geremi Gonzalez, who won 11 games for the Chicago Cubs in 1997, was killed by a lightning strike in his native Venezuela on Sunday. He was 33.
Geremi Gonzalez pitched for five major league teams and compiled a 30-35 career record.
Emergency management official Herman Bracho said Monday that Gonzalez was struck by lightning at a beach.
Gonzalez pitched for five major league teams from 1997-2006. The right-hander appeared in 131 games with 83 starts, compiling a 30-35 record.
Gonzalez also played for the Tampa Bay Rays, Boston Red Sox, New York Mets and Milwaukee Brewers. He made a combined 24 appearances for the Mets and Brewers in his final major league season in 2006.
The Toronto Blue Jays released him during spring training last year. Gonzalez then moved to Japan and pitched in five games for the Yomiuri Giants.
If published reports are to be believed, the Kansas City Royals have decided to continue the fine pharmaceutical heritage that began with Ewing Kauffman by signing outfielder Jose Guillen to a 3-year, $36 million deal on Tuesday.
The potential steroid suspension aside, are the Royals spending David Glass’s new found money wisely? How about some charts!
Below are two charts showing Guillen’s On-Base Percentage (OBP) and Slugging Average (SLG) by age. The difference between the top chart and the bottom chart is that Guillen’s partial years have been removed (in ’99, ’01, ’02 and ’06, Jose appeared in fewer than 100 games for the season).
By removing the partial seasons, we can see that the Dominican fellow has followed a pretty standard career path, peaking at age 27-28 in the power department while maintaining some positive growth in the ability to get on base.
Walks as a percentage of plate appearances:
Again, Guillen has shown an improved eye at the plate over the course of his career.
Extra base hits as a percentage of hits and plate appearances:
Here is where it gets sketchy for the Royals. At first glance, Guillen appears to have a somewhat erratic ability to hit the ball hard when he makes contact, but overall looks like he is trending upward.
However, when you remove the years most likely to be affected by small sample size blips, he begins to look like any typical player. In terms of full-season ability, Guillen’s power potential seems to have peaked when he was 27.
The Royals have just “fixed” their middle order power problem with a guy who looks to be on the decline in terms of hurting the baseball over the next three years.
The good news is that while Guillen now becomes the highest-paid player in team history, his contract is not exorbitant in the current market. Three years is a short enough time frame that Kansas City can cut their losses if Guillen fails to find rejuvenation in the fountains at Kauffman stadium.
That said, I’d still rather see them go after Miguel Cabrera.
A favorite Strat-O-Matic player of mine continues his comeback.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Troy Percival thinks the Tampa Bay Rays have a bright future, and wants to do everything he can to help the young team realize its potential.
Spurning suitors that included the New York Yankees, the 38-year-old reliever agreed to an $8 million, two-year contract Friday with Tampa Bay, which needed to upgrade one of the worst bullpens in the major leagues.
Percival, who came out of retirement to go 3-0 with a 1.80 ERA in 34 appearances for St. Louis in 2007, will have a chance to earn another $4 million-plus in bonuses.
He said he had comparable offers from other teams and may have even been able to get more money, but he likes Tampa Bay’s nucleus of young talent and thinks longtime friend Joe Maddon is the right manager to get the Rays out of the AL East cellar.
Tampa Bay needs a great deal more than Percival to see a turn around in the team’s fortunes. Troy proved to me he can pitch again. 36 K’s, 10 W and only 24 hits in 40 innings. Sounds like closer material to me, which is what Percival did for the Angels from 1996-2004. As long as the reliever’s arm woes don’t come back, I see this as a good move for the Rays.
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