Very odd finish in Tampa Bay tonight…the game was tied at two going into the bottom of the tenth inning. Duane Below started by allowing an infield single to Evan Longoria. Ben Zobrist grounded to Brandon Inge at third, and Inge was only able to get the lead runner, Longoria. Matt Joyce struck out, and Below just needed one more out to end the inning. The next batter was Casey Kotchman, and Below hit him on a 2-2 count. Next up was Sean Rodriguez, and Below walked him on five pitches. It would come down to Eliot Johnson. Below had him down 0-2, and Johnson chopped one to Inge at third. He decided to go to second to try to get the out there…and Rodriguez beat the throw to Ramon Santiago by half a step. Game over, Rays win.
The more important question….why the hell didn’t Inge just take the ball to third?!
He could have easily taken it to the bag and gotten the out there….man, talk about a bad move.
The Tigers aren’t sweating the loss all that much, though it would have helped in the long run. They’re still six up on Cleveland, and 6.5 up on Chicago. But a win really would have helped them. As for the Rays, could they possibly make some noise in the AL East? They’re 7.5 behind the Yankees for the wild card, and have the best record in the division this month at 14-7. Crazy runs have happened, but would it even be prudent to discuss the Rays toppling the mighty Yankees or Red Sox in the East? I doubt they will, but you could make an argument that Tampa is the fourth best team in the AL, behind their two eastern competitors and the Rangers.
Around the League…Shaun Marcum lost his first game in two months…Wandy Rodriguez got thrashed after being pulled back off waivers by the Astros…Daniel Hudson rolled all over the Nationals
Today’s Matchups…light schedule today, but Brandon Beachy vs Matt Garza tickles me in all the right places. Doug Fister and Jeremy Hellickson is another good one, and Charlie Morton vs Edwin Jackson isn’t too bad either.
Enjoy your baseball, ladies and gentlemen.
