Location: St. Petersburg, Fla. | Ballpark: Tropicana Field (36,048) | Spring Training: St. Petersburg, Fla.
Owner: Stuart Sternberg | GM: Andrew Friedman | Manager: Joe Maddon | World Championships: 0
The Rays' trade with the Twins is looking pretty good right now.
While infielder Brendan Harris and outfielder Delmon Young have been steady performers for Minnesota, righty Matt Garza and shotstop Jason Bartlett have been key contributors for the Rays, who are off to the best start in franchise history at 22-16.
Garza had his best start as a Ray on Monday, working seven shutout innings.
"Garza pitched very well," manager Joe Maddon said. "The ball was very much alive. It's not often you see the Yankees take those kind of swings against that fastball, so that told me the ball was really moving a lot."
Garza is 2-1 with a 1.37 ERA in three straight quality starts since his return from the disabled list April 25.
And Bartlett has been a two-way contributor, a key reason for the Rays' vastly improved defense. With several key hits, including a two-run triple Monday, he has raised his average to .248.
RAYS 7, YANKEES 1: Matt Garza pitched seven shutout innings as the Rays won their fifth straight. They have the best record in the majors over the last three weeks, 14-5. Jonny Gomes scored three runs and Jason Bartlett had the big hit, a two-run triple in a four-run fourth.
Copyright (C) 2008 The Sports Xchange. All Rights Reserved.
Why would Andy Friedman attend the Rays series against Cleveland?
It's possible that the Rays are now looking closely at Cleveland Indians Casey Blake? Nady may have been to costly for the Rays at this point in their development.
The Rays have lost 7 in a row they need to change things up a bit how about calling up David Price this guy is a future ace! In AA (double a) David Price has a 4-0 record with a 1.38 ERA 26 innings and 22 strikeouts in four starts, in A ball he went 4-0 with a 1.82 ER
Amazing how quickly the message board trolls Goat and Tom Terrific disappear and vanish into thin air when the Rays perform in their usual strong and winning ways. It just makes me laugh - they are like bandwaggon fans, but working in a negative fashion, lol... gotta feel a little sorry for them.
