Back to the Rays Report

Roger Mooney

Roger Mooney covers the Tampa Bay Rays for The Tampa Tribune, TBO.com and News Channel 8. He has covered the Rays since their first season in 1998, including 11 years for the Bradenton Herald. Roger has also covered Florida, South Florida and Florida State football, the Bucs and the Lightning.

 @RMooneyTrib
 TBO_Rays
Send us your questions

More Links:

• Schedule/Results
• Player Stats
• Team Stats

Most Recent Entries

• Rays-Red Sox, Round II: Can Rays afford a beanball war?
• Robinson product Gibson advances to NCAA track finals
• Panini previews Gold Standard autographs
• UD unveils Military Machines inserts for 2012 Goodwin Champions set
• Rays @ BoSox: Guyer out for the season, Jennings close to returning and lineups
• USF softball: It’s game day
• Weekly Tampa Bay fishing report
• Rays at BoSox: Rivalry renewed
• Karen Cooley returns as Zephyrhills girls swimming coach
• USF beats Pitt, stays alive
• The Nerds head north
• Jeffrey Shank out as Gulf boys basketball coach
• Berkeley Prep captures Academic Team Champion Award - again
• This week’s signings and offers
• Berkeley Prep wins FHSAA Academic Award standings

More

• Bucs Report -Tribune staff
• Rays Report - Roger Mooney
• Bolts Report - Erik Erlendsson
• Bulls Report
• Prep Report - Hillsborough
• Prep Report - Pasco
• Prep Report - Region
• Prep Report - Recruiting Updates
• Prep Report - Football
• Go Fishing: On The Waterfront
• The Sports Bookie - Bob D'Angelo
• Gators Report - Tribune staff
• Youth Sports Report
• NFL Draft Report
• Go Ask: Frank's Tacklebox
• Bucified Bert Blog
• BUK Power - Bucs Fan Blog
• Pigskin Preacher - NFL Fan Blog
• Breakfast Bonus - Tom McEwen
• Highlands Sports

Monthly Archives

• May 2012
• April 2012
• March 2012
• February 2012
• January 2012
• December 2011

Rays ready for a visit from BoSox

Posted Jul 5, 2010 by Roger Mooney

Updated Jul 5, 2010 at 09:40 AM

ROGER MOONEY
ST. PETERSBURG Everything was swell in Rays world on the morning of May 24.

The players awoke with the best record in baseball, 20 games above .500, and a six-game lead over the Yankees in the American League East.

The Red Sox, 8 1/2 games back, were in town for a three game series that began that night at the Trop.

We know happened.

The Red Sox won all three and sent the Rays on a free fall that included the month of June.

Now, the Rays, 15 games over .500, are back at the Trop after their first winning road trip in more than a month and here come the Red Sox, beat-up but in second place with a half-game lead over the now third place Rays.

The Red Sox are missing three regulars, including spark plug Dustin Pedroia, and Clay Buchholz will not pitch during this series.

Still, the injuries have yet to slow the Red Sox.

“Trust me, they’re not going anywhere,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “They have enough pros on that team. They ain’t going anywhere.”

The Rays split a two-game series at Fenway Park last week before winning three of four against the Twins in Minneapolis.

They put together a trio of big innings, the first coming in Wednesday’s win in Boston and the other two coming over the weekend at Target Field.

“Those two teams are some of the best teams in baseball,” James Shields said. “This Twins lineup is lethal one through nine and to be able to do that is pretty good. It’s a confidence builder. When we go back home we have to do a better job of winning.”

It appears the timely hit has returned to the Rays offense.

Carl Crawford and Evan Longoria are getting the back-to-back hits that are meant to power this offense.

The defense and bullpen continue to be solid.

The starting pitching? Well Shields snapped a seven-start losing streak Sunday and the Rays rallied for a win Saturday despite another short outing by Wade Davis.

“We’re in the hunt. That’s where we want to be,” Shields said. “We could be better right now. We had a bad month of June, and the good news is we’re starting July off on the right foot. We have to keep this rolling.”