Rays vs Rangers

[studcrackers]

this jackoff ump is really makin things hard for feliz, do your f*ckin job blue

[studcrackers]

F*CK YEA!

rangers have now doubled their win total for franchise playoff wins, 2!

[HMFFL]

What a great way to start off the playoffs. I hope Rangers continue to play this way and end up winning the series. Go Rangers!

[Chester0]

beenthinking about this series a lot. top to bottom, the rangers have a better lineup. rangers have an advantage, if ever so slight, in each of the top 3 pitching matchups. Bullpens are both great, with a slight edge to Tampa. How is it that Rays won 6 more games in a tougher division? It seems the only noticeable advantages that Tampa has are defense and baserunning, but even then Texas is good in those departments as well.

i guess what im trying to ask is how in the hell did tampa do so much better in the regular season? series is far from over, i'm just thinking about things on paper, and wondering what others think.

[studcrackers]

nelson cruz, kinsler and hamilton all missed extensive time, there's the equalizer, that and pitching w/o cliff lee half the season. even in his struggles he still helped save a bullpen that was going to be slaughtered by august w/the way harden and feldman tandem of suck were pitching

[Pharmcat]

well Lee just guaranteed himself a 100 mill deal

[cmavswin]

Great win for the Rangers today now hopefully CJ learned something from uncle Cliffy that if you dont walk the Rays you have a real good chance to win.

[Jake Steed]

i guess what im trying to ask is how in the hell did tampa do so much better in the regular season? series is far from over, i'm just thinking about things on paper, and wondering what others think.

Tampa Bay literally walked their way to the best record in the AL. They only have 2 hitters that really scare you. Everyone else works the count, get on base & steal.

[Chester0]

i guess what im trying to ask is how in the hell did tampa do so much better in the regular season? series is far from over, i'm just thinking about things on paper, and wondering what others think.

Tampa Bay literally walked their way to the best record in the AL. They only have 2 hitters that really scare you. Everyone else works the count, get on base & steal.

at 4.1 and 2.9 BB/9 respectively, CJ and the Cobra worry me a little bit against them.

[craig01]

i guess what im trying to ask is how in the hell did tampa do so much better in the regular season? series is far from over, i'm just thinking about things on paper, and wondering what others think.

Tampa Bay literally walked their way to the best record in the AL. They only have 2 hitters that really scare you. Everyone else works the count, get on base & steal.

Throw in some timely hitting too.

While the Rays had their lowest team batting average ever, they also scored their most runs ever.

The Rays score in bunches, or barely at all.

The team won so many games because of spectacular defense, fairly solid pitching, and the back end of a bullpen that was near perfect.

The Rays were the ultimate grinders throughout the season, and typically rarely scored runs before the fifth inning.

I hate the non-aggressive mentality at the plate, curse at Derek Shelton (hitting coach) frequently, and continually watch Rays batters take called third strikes. But they still managed to win 96 games in the toughest division in baseball.

I don't have a good feeling about these playoffs at all, but one can not ever count out what is a very resilient team.

[studcrackers]

this ranger team might not be smart enough to realize all shields is gonna throw in a pitchers count is his changeup. 2 just awful ab's by michael young (who's looked bad through 5 ab's) and josh hamilton

[studcrackers]

god i love josh hamiltion

[Jersey Generals]

Man, if the Rangers win this game, its over.

[studcrackers]

[Wavy Q]

tampa did not come to play at all

[studcrackers]

rangers catchers have reached base in 5 of their 6 plate appearances, that is hilarious

[studcrackers]

well the rangers got the breaks of all breaks

[Pharmcat]

this is the downside of having a stacked yet young pitching staff

they either 1) get gassed come Oct or 2) dont have the experience to know what pitch to throw in the big situation

[craig01]

this is the downside of having a stacked yet young pitching staff

they either 1) get gassed come Oct or 2) dont have the experience to know what pitch to throw in the big situation

Shields hasn't pitched well for quite a while. Early in the season, he was striking a lot of hitters out and was superb through May. After that, hitters kind of figured him out, and Shields has missed locations terribly with the splitter and fastball. The word "meatball" comes to mind, as I've chnaged his name this year from James "Big Game" Shields....to that of James "9-Hit" Shields.

I don't believe the staff is gassed at all, but I do think that the other 4 starters depend on the Rays defense quite a bit. And a little bit of offensive support once in a while wouldn't hurt either.

THe Rays have not brought their intensity to this series (and look totally clueless at the plate), and really haven't had it consistently since early September.

I'm not surprised at all by the soon-to-be 2-0 deficit.

[trwi7]

Seriously. Who leaves playoff games early?