Blue Jays 12, Devil Rays 11.
It hurts. real bad. But it would hurt a lot worse if we were surprised. Is there anybody out there that didn't think, with Al Reyes unavailable, that this bullpen was capable of blowing a 5 run lead? Bullpens are supposed to put out fires. That's why closers are referred to as "Firemen". The Devil Rays bullpen starts fires. Some pitchers have lightning bolts for arms. The Devil Rays relievers have arms made of lighter fluid.

And the worst Arsonist of the group? Shawn Camp. Hands down. Of course we could also make an argument for Joe Maddon for once again putting Camp in a situation to hurt the ballclub. Supposedly Papa Joe is a computer guy and a statistics guy and loves to look at trends and matchups. If that is the case we obviously don't need to remind Papa Joe that Camp is THE WORST PITCHER IN BASEBALL WHEN IT COMES TO INHERITED RUNNERS. He has now inherited 40 runners (5 more than anybody else in baseball) and allowed 17 of those runners to score (42.5%). The major league average is about 30%. So not only is Camp horrible in these situations, but for some reason Papa Joe keeps bringing him in with runners on more often than any other pitcher in baseball. We can't make it up.

And when we think about it, the bullpen is lucky that the Rays were only up 5 runs in the 9th. Last night the Arsonists would have blown a 15 run lead. We are still waiting for one of the 4 relief pitchers to record the second out of the 9th.

If there is a silver lining from last night's game it is that this is the sort of performance that could lead to a shake up that is long overdue.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• This latest bullpen melt down came one day after devilrays.com mentioned that the 'pen had been "stepping up" recently. oops.
  

After a rough start to the season, the Rays' bullpen is starting to establish itself as one of the strengths of the team

• Is James Shields deserving of a spot on the All-Star team? At this point you would have to say 'yes'. But BJ Upton and Al Reyes are also deserving and it is hard to imagine the Jim Leyland will take more than one member of the Devil Rays.
• One fan has had enough of the 2007 Devil Rays, and this latest implosion was the final straw. We understand the frustration but we have to say we knew this team had a terrible pitching staff when the season started.