THE GOOD: The Rays deserved 3 losses for last night. Thank goodness they only get one in the standings. And because everybody else in the division lost except for the O's, the Rays maintain their half-game lead in the division.

THE BAD: DO NOT try to feed us this pile of crap that Andy Sonnanstine was "better than score indicates". That's you Roger Mooney (by the way, we are still waiting for you to explain why the Rays did not like the Sports Illustrated cover). Just because 5 of the runs were unearned DOES NOT mean that Sonnanstine has no responsibility. It is not as if Evan Longoria committed 5 errors. Longoria did not give up the 2 hits before the error, or the 3 hits after the error. And as the Rangers broadcast crew mentioned last night, that error could have very easily been ruled a base hit. The ball had a wicked side-spin on it and took an angled hop. In fact the only player that deserves any blame close to what Sonny deserves is Eric Hinske. In the first inning, he played a single into a double by taking a crappy, slow angle and letting a ball get by to the wall. The next batter followed with an RBI double. In the second inning, Hinske once again played a single into a double by letting a ball get by him to the wall. Later in the game, while a valiant effort, Hinske dove for a ball that went off his glove. Hinske is giving the opposition extra bases on an almost nightly basis. How much more of this can Joe Maddon take?...And of course, then there was the bottom of the 3rd inning, with 2 runners on in a 5-run game, Carlos Pena got ahead 3-0 only to end up striking out...And of course, there was the 2-on, no outs, double play from Eric Hinske that killed a rally in the 6th, and the no outs double play from Carl Crawford that killed another one in the 7th inning.

THE TELLING: Her Rays has a much more insightful recap, if you are a masochist.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• Don't forget to VOTE for Carl Crawford to start the all-star game. If you haven't voted yet today, go NOW! [MLB All-Star Voting]
• The first vote totals were released and only Carl Crawford, BJ Upton and Carlos Pena are listed among the leaders. C'mon people. If we don't vote for CC, nobody will! [Rays Report]
• Joe Maddon says that Willy Aybar will rejoin the Rays when he comes off the DL. Marc Lancaster indicates that could happen in time for the White Sox series tomorrow...We will get to the rest of the garbage in this piece later. [Tampa Tribune]
  
• The Rays Index Live Blog-A-Baloo of the Week will be this afternoon with game 3 of the Rangers series and will be held right here.
• Rocco Baldelli stated once again that he once to play for the Rays this season. Joe Maddon says the team is "cautiously optimistic". In other words, nothing new here. [MLB]
  
• How bad is it right now for the Mets? One of the more popular Mets blogs is now following the Rays...maybe. [Mets Geek aka Rays Geek]