DRG here again to get you through the weekend. I can be reached here..

The Good: Matt Garza is still walking too many (4 last night) but he was better about getting ahead of batters. You can always tell when Garza is going to have a good night by his ability to get strike-one. Last night, he was strike-one to 18 of 30 batters (60%). Not great, but definitely improved. In his last start, when he allowed 7 runs in 4.1 innings, he was only strike-one to 10 of 25 batters (40%) ...Aubrey Friggin Huff finally got what was comin' to him. After torturing the Rays for the last year-plus, and after hitting a triple earlier in the game, Huff appeared to hit a run-scoring, game-tying double in the 8th inning with 1 out, but the drive was called foul. Huff would then ground into an inning ending double play.

The Bad: Flavored Tequila

The Telling: All five of the Rays starters now have at least one start in which they did not allow a run...The Rays have a 2.5 game lead in the Wild Card standings over Oakland and 3.5 games over Baltimore.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA...

• YouTube video of the day: Weezer's new video featuring many of your viral video faves. [You Tube]
• John Heyman reviews last winter's "biggest trades" and doesn't even mention the Matt Garza/Jason Bartlett/Delmon Young deal? I call "do over". [SI.com]
  

Tampa Bay Rays (1-0)

Yesterday: Tampa Bay Rays 6, Baltimore 2.

The Good: Winning is about pitching and James Shields did his job. He needed only 86 pitches (53 strikes) to get through 7 innings. That despite walking 3 batters, something he only did 4 times in 2007...The new and improved bullpen did their job also and Troy Percival wasn't even needed. Trever Miller, Al Reyes and Dan Wheeler combined for 2 innings and allowed only one base runner, walking none...At the plate, the newly anointed left-handed half of the right field platoon (Eric Hinske) hit his first home run in a Rays uni, a no-doubt-about-it-shot, and now stands just 15 home runs of exceeding his best one year total in since 2002...Dioner Navarro picked up right where he left off in 2007 with 3 hits, including a double.

The Bad: Carl Crawford will never be known as the best defensive outfielder but he makes up for that with speed. Still he misplayed a ball near the track in the first inning that led to two runs...In one of the more bizarre managing decisions we ever saw from Joe Maddon, Dioner Navarro broke for home when Akinori Iwamura tried to steal second. The throw went through, but then came back home where Navi was tagged out. Maybe Maddon was trying to surprise the O's, because he did a good job of surprising EVERYBODY.

The Telling: Only one steal on the day (Carl Crawford), but we would be surprised if this team does not lead the AL in steals. Joe Maddon is going to run them early and often...Nathan Haynes made his Rays debut in the 9th inning as a defensive replacement in right field for Eric Hinske. We wouldn't be surprised if this is an almost nightly occurrence with both Hinske and Jonny Gomes...It was not a save situation, but we were a little surprised Troy Percival did not come on in the 9th with a 4-run lead, especially with the off-day tomorrow. Our guess is that this was a weather-based decisions [Ed. note: Percy is fighting a cold]...In addition, we were a little surprised that without Percival, Maddon went with Al Reyes in the 8th and Dan Wheeler in the 9th. We assumed that Wheeler and Reyes would share set-up duties in the 8th inning, but this may be an early sign that Wheeler may be the Rays' unoffical "backup" closer.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• There is a new entry into the Rays Blogosphere, and this one we are excited about. Remember the scene in Anchorman when all the news crews rumble in the alley? Well, it is just a matter of time before that happens among AL East blogs and we feel a whole lot better knowing Her Rays is on our side. [Her Rays]
  
• 8 Rays were making their first opening day appearances, and Elliot Johnson was at his first major league game. Troy Percival may have been held back by Joe Maddon because he is fighting a nasty cold. [St. Pete Times]
  
• Good new for Elliot Johnson fans. Ben Zobrist will not be ready to come off the DL on April 5. He has not been able to do any baseball related activities and Joe Maddon indicated that he wants Zobrist to play about a week's worth of games in either extended spring training or with one of the minor league affiliates prior to a return to the parent club. [MLB]
  
• Stuart Sternberg took a train from New York City to Baltimore to be at Camden Yards on opening day and he spoke with the media. He reemphasized that he is not ready to put a number of wins as a goal for the Rays. He also said he is not sure if attendance will be up but that there is a clear buzz about the Rays, but fears that the economy may have an impact. [MLB]

"I know the interest level is up, the Web hits are up dramatically," Sternberg said. "I think it's going to be difficult, because when you look at it and you want to measure something you want to remove as many variables as you can, so you have apples to apples. And certainly, the economy, and what's going on in the economy, specifically in the Tampa bay region, it's going to be difficult to do that apples to apples comparison."

• Joe Henderson notes that we know what to expect from the stars of the team, but it is the newcomers and young guys that need to contribute if the Rays are going to be a success in 2008 and on opening day that is exactly what happened. [Tampa Tribune]
  
• Baseball Mastermind made ten observations on opening day and despite what they call a "relatively insignificant game" Baseball Mastermind says that the Rays "are here to stay". [Baseball Mastermind]
• Joe Maddon will try to get all of his position players a start in the first week. [Tampa Tribune]
• Several Rays were asked for advice by the Baltimore Sun on the rebuilding process now underway with the O's. [Baltimore Sun]
• Camden Chat compares the O's to the fictional Indians in "Major League". [Camden Chat]
• Aubrey Friggin' Huff was booed lustily on opening day and that couldn't make us happier. [Baltimore Sun]
  

In July of 2006, the Devil Rays traded Aubrey Huff to the Houston Astros. Following the season, he signed a 3 year/$20 million contract with the Baltimore Orioles. In doing so, Huff remarked about how it would be refreshing to play for a team with a chance to win. Nevermind the fact that the Orioles haven't had a winning record since 1997.

Now it seems as though Huff may be regretting his move from the Devil Rays and the Tampa Bay area strip clubs. And now he is alienating fans of his team even before he walks out the door...

In a telephone interview with The Sun yesterday, Huff said he didn't mean to disrespect the city of Baltimore or its residents when he referred to it as a "horses - -" town during Thursday's 90-minute segment with Bubba The Love Sponge on Sirius Satellite Radio.Huff's appraisal came after the discussion turned to nightlife in the Tampa, Fla., area, and how much Huff indulged in it while he was single and playing for the Devil Rays.

That's right. Aubrey Huff referred to Baltimore as a "Horseshit Town". And to ask Huff about it, he is not sure what he did wrong...

Not one time did I trash the organization," Huff said. "I love the ballpark, the organization, the guys on the team...If people think I offended them, I can apologize, but I didn't feel like I did anything wrong.

So it is OK to refer to the hometown of your team's fans as "Horseshit" as long as you don't trash the organization, the stadium and your teammates. Of course, Huff may have looked at his performance in the Trop (.375-4-7-1.256 OPS in 32 at bats) this past season compared to the rest of the ballparks (including Camden Yards) (.274-11-65-.749 OPS in 518 at bats) and realized life may not have been so bad after all in the Devil Rays green and white. That...and the strip clubs. And he still has two years left on his contract. Have fun with that Orioles fans.

Where Aubrey Huff takes a shot at Baltimore strip clubs [Baltimore Sun]

Orioles 8, Devil Rays 4.
If anybody is still wondering why the Rays struggle against the one team in the AL East that they should be able to compete with, they need look no further than Aubrey Friggin' Huff. We are here to anoint Huff as Chuck LaMar's replacement as the official Rays Killer. Some players play better against certain teams but we have never seen a player make an entire season out of playing against one team.

Aubrey Huff	G	AVG	HR	RBI	OBP	SLG	OPS
vs TB Devil Rays	17	.373	7	14	.439	.797	1.236
vs other 28 teams	120	.260	8	51	.309	.502	.811

And with one swing of Aubrey Friggin' Huff's bat, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays now fall four back of the Orioles in the AL East and more importantly five back in the loss column. The Rays have 23 games remaining while the Orioles have 25. If Baltimore goes 10-15 down the stretch, the Rays would need to finish 14-9 to pull out of the cellar. This will be a difficult task, at best, considering the Rays have two series remaining against the Red Sox, and series with the Yankees, Angels and Mariners, all playoff contenders. The other two series are against the Blue Jays.

Surpassing the Orioles is not impossible but it will be a long shot. If the team wants to have any thoughts of a 4th place finish, the Rays must win tonight's game.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• Not that anybody was holding their breath, but the loss last night guarantees that the Rays will finish with a losing record for the 10th consecutive season. Having already been officially eliminated from the division race, the Rays' elimination number for the wild card is now 4.
  
• Marc Topkin thinks Josh Wilson's fielding problems are "more mental than physical". We think they are more because he is just not a very good defensive infielder. Either way, Mr. Anonymous is likely to be a one-and-done member of the Devil Rays as the team looks for an upgrade up the middle this off-season. [tampabay.com]
• If Rocco Baldelli does not return this season, he will have played in exactly 138 of the Rays last 486 games. John Romano believes that "it is impossible to know where Baldelli fits in the equation (team's future)". Oh. It is possible, because Rocco does not fit in the team's future. It is clear that the team wants BJ Upton in center field and Rocco in another organization. Still, Romano believes that the team should pick up Rocco's '09 option and just cross their fingers. [tampabay.com]
• With 276 hits combined, Delmon Young and Aki Iwamura could become just the 5th pair of rookies in the past 20 years to combine for 300 hits. Also, Young (.297), BJ Upton (.311) and Carl Crawford (.313) could become the first outfield since 1996 (Cleveland) to have all three members hit .300. [Devil Rays]
• Scott Kazmir and BJ Upton both make the list of "Top 25 Under 25"with Delmon Young named as honorable mention. Nick Underhill does bring up a good point in regards to Upton. He may be a better center fielder but will Upton push for a return to the infield where he has a better chance to be a perennial all-star? [Im Writing Sports]
• In a case where "no news is apparently news", Carlos Pena has yet to be contacted by the team concerning a contract extension. Pena is not a free agent, so nobody should expect any negotiations until after the season. [The Canadian Press]
  

Devil Rays 15, Orioles 8.

Just the links today

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• The Rays elimination number in the division remains 3, and is 10 for the wild card. With 30 games remaining, the Rays need 11 wins to avoid another 100-loss season. They have a 5-game lead over the White Sox for the worst record in baseball.
  
• The Rays tied a club record with 11 runs in the 8th inning last night. [Devil Rays]
  
• Delmon Young homered for the first time since June 22. [Bradenton Herald]
• Aubrey Huff hit his 5th home run against the Devil Rays. [tampabay.com]
  
• The Devil Rays may have the best outfield bargain in baseball with Carl Carawford, BJ Upton and Delmon Young who combined, will make less than $7 million in 2007. [TBO]
• How many wins would James Shields have if he were pitching for a contender? Joe Maddon thinks it would be 15. We have a hunch it would be 16-17. [Devil Rays]
• With Ben Zobrist on the DL, Josh Wilson has become the everyday shortstop. [TBO]
• Elijah Dukes met with Cecil Fielder and coached first base for Fielder's Independent League Charlotte County Redfish. [tampabay.com]
• We are not sure what bananas have to do with peanut butter and jelly or for that matter, what any of them have to do with the Devil Rays. [Phorce Impressive Media]
  

Devil Rays 2, Red Sox 1.
The Devil Rays struck out 9 times last night. How unusual is that? Not at all. The Rays lead the AL with 986 strikeouts. The AL record was set by the 1996 Detroit Tigers who whiffed an amazing 1,266 times. They are averaging 7.8 Ks per game. At the current pace, the Rays would go down on strikes 1,268 times, breaking the previous record.

There are some that would argue that a strikeout is not necessarily a bad way to get out. After all it is still just one out. Obviously a double-play is worse. Still, for all the ways a batter can make one out, the K may be the worst.

A strikeout is a rally killer. With runners on base (except for a double-play) a strikeout is the worst thing a batter can do. It does nothing except move the other team closer to getting out of a jam. A strikeout does not move runners. A strikeout does not force the defense to make a play. A strikeout pumps up a team. It rallies a road stadium or it deflates the home field.

A good pitcher doesn't necessarily pitch for strikeouts as a large number of Ks translates to a large number of pitches. But there are clearly times when a pitcher needs a strikeout with runners on base and all-too-often the Devil Rays kindly oblige.

Rays on record strikeout pace; Bedard dominant [USA Today]

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• The Devil Rays are now 3-1 against Boston in games in which Daisuke Matsuzaka is the starting pitcher. They are 0-9 in all other games against the Red Sox. [tampabay.com]
  
• BJ Upton has batted cleanup before last night, he just doesn't remember when. Upton took to the new role as well as can be expected hitting a home run and driving in both runs. [TBO]
• Sure sounds like we can expect to see Jeff Niemann added as a sixth starter in September. [TBO]

"If the whole group feels that it's appropriate to bring him here, I could see value in that," Maddon said. "No question about it. A lot of times a guy will come up in September like that, and that one month of experience really can catapult you into the next year."

• Grading any draft immediately after it happens is rediculous, but even more so in baseball where most prospects require 3-4 years of development and most first round picks will never make a significant impact. So please tell us why in hell the Hardball Times feels the need to give out "The DRAFTYs:The 2007 MLB draft awards". [The Hardball Times]
  
• Carlos Pena is having a career year, having bested his previous career-best with his 28th home runs. He is now six home runs shy of Aubrey Huff for the franchis record. [Devil Rays]
• Don Zimmer will have to change his number next season to #60 as he is planning on returning to the Rays for his 60th season in major league baseball. [MLB News Blog]
  

Devil Rays 4, Royals 2.
Carlos Pena was 3-3 and hit his 12th home run and his 56th catwalk. How good has Pena been this season?

• Of the 12 players in the AL with at least 11 home runs, Pena's 131 at bats are at least 56 fewer than any other player.
  
• He also raised his batting average to .313 which is 70 points higher than his career average coming into this season.
  
• His .641 SLG and 1.017 OPS would each be good for 2nd in the AL if he had enough at bats to qualify (Maglio Ordonez leads with .681/1.117)
  
• If Pena had just 190 at bats (many players are already over 200), he projects to 45 RBI, which would be tied for 6th in the AL.

As a side note...Pena has played in the majors for parts of 7 seasons. However, we dusted off our abacus and it looks like his service time was only 4 years heading into 2007 since he has spent much of those seven seasons in the minors (a player is a free agent after 6 years of ML service). If we are reading this right, and we like to think we are, Pena is only arbitration eligible at the end of the year and will not be a free agent unless the Rays fail to offer arbitration. Has anybody heard any differently?

As for James Shields...Well, James the Greater justs keeps on truckin'. Shields moves to 5-0 on the year. Only Josh Beckett in the AL has more wins without a loss. Another outing in which he pitches into the 8th inning. Only 4 hits and 1 walks. He did allow 2 more home runs, which gives him 11 on the season. That is tied for 9th in the majors. However, 5 of those came in his first 3 starts of the season. James the Greater.

Of course the big news today is that Andy Sonnanstine will make his major league debut tonight in Toronto and Thursday the Rays may add a future ace to their already deep pitching pool in the MLB draft. We will have more on the draft later, but tonight all eyes will be on the tele. The rotation is finally starting to come around. We know it is still early for JP Howell, but after one start he has given us hope that the Rays can send out a pitcher with a good chance of winning 3 out of 5 days. Can Sonny make it 4 of 5? We might be able to tolerate another month or two of "Edwin Jackson Development" if he was the only hole in the donut.

Looks like we are going to have a busy day around this here internets, so come back early and often.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• How do you know when you spend too much time neck-deep in all things Devil Rays? When THIS title scares the hell out of you. Too make ammends we are now running to the bathroom with a Maxim magazine.
  
• No surprise here. Akinori Iwamura will not make the trip to Toronto but should be ready to join the team in Miami when the Rays face the Marlins.
• The Crime Dog played first base for the Devil Rays. Is Carlos Pena El Gato del Crimen...The Crime Cat?
  
• Shawn Riggans just can't catch a break (Like what we did there? Aren't we clever). Riggans was placed on the 15-day DL and the Rays with Josh Paul already on the 60-day DL, were forced to add Raul Casanova to the 40-man roster and promote him to the Rays. To make room, Chris Seddon of Montgomery was designated for assignment.
• Carl Crawford has now tied Aubrey Huff for the franchise record for most hits (870). Fittingly, he did it with a triple.
• Akinori Iwamura is back with the latest installment of his diary. Not often the sentimental types, but we think it is pretty cool that in his first year in the US, Aki's wife is pregnant and the baby is due on July 4.
  

Devil Rays 6, Tigers 5.
If someone would have approached us and said "would you sign for being tied with the Yankees after 49 games?" We would have been idiots to say 'no', yet somehow being tied with the Yankees and 13.5 games behind the Pink Hats is not so fulfilling right now. Still, considering the Rays only have 2 starting pitchers. Not at all terrible.

Last night Edwin Jackson once again teased us into thinking that the Rays may already have a 3rd pitcher at the major league level. There is no doubt that Jackson has an incredible arm and we have to keep reminding ourselves that he is still only 23. But we can't ignore a 7.12 ERA and only 43 innings in 9 starts (4.2 innings per start). So he remains a bit of an enigma. A project that could be great once molded or he may never "get it".

One only need to look at last night's second inning to summarize Jackson's entire career. The inning started with 3 straight singles to load the bases. Jackson then gave up a fourth straight hit, that drives in 2. On the play, an errant throw from Carl Crawford to home, somehow missed Jackson's glove as he backed up the play, and struck him in the face. After that play, Jackson settled down and struck out the next three hitters, the last two on 6 pitches. So, in the span of one inning, Jackson struck out 3 batters, failed to catch a throw from Crawford and got struck in the cheek, allowed 4 hits and 2 runs. He looked great. He looked awful. He looked stupid. All in the span of one half inning. Folks...We introduce you to, Edwin Jackson.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• Finally, the Rays may be ready to shake up the rotation, although nothing is official yet. Jae Seo was moved to the bullpen so that Edwin Jackson could pitch for the first time in 10 days last night. The Rays will not need a 5th starter until next Tuesday and the Joe Maddon made it clear that Seo is not guaranteed to make that start. Andy Sonnanstine will be on regular rest for that Tuesday game, although with a weeks notice, it shouldn't be too difficult to shuffle the Durham rotation for Jeff Niemann to make the start.
  
• Well, we thought that Jorge Cantu would be the first player sent down when Akinori Iwamura was activated and that Jonny Gomes would be demoted upon Rocco Baldelli's return. Looks like we got the order wrong as Gomes was sent down yesterday. Both players have struggled offensively, so Cantu's defensive flexibility (and we use that term very loosely) gave him the edge over Gomes.
• Jorge Cantu made it clear that another demotion would lead to another trade demand.
  
• How does Jorge Cantu not make the list of least attractive baseball players?
• Stuart Sternberg made indicated that Elijah Dukes could still be released. That is about as likely to happen as the Rays winning the division this season. Read: Not very likely.
• Gary Sheffield has a close connection to Elijah Dukes that extends beyond Hillsborough High. Sheff believes he can help Dukes, but he is not reaching out to him at this time.
  
• Scott Kazmir moved from one side of the rubber to the other and results on Sunday were impressive. After throwing 15 of his first 30 pitches out of the strike zone, he settled down and 52 of the next 77 were strikes.
  
• The Devil Rays slip a spot in SI.com's latest power rankings. They are now #25.
• Awww, how cute. A list of the "cutest" first names in baseball. Which one would make the best baby name? Here is your chance to vote for Ty Wigginton.
• Carl Crawford is 4 hits shy of tying Aubrey Huff for the most hits in team history (870).
  

Orioles 9, Devil Rays 7. We don't want to talk about it. OK, we will say this. We better get used to it. This is a team that will look like a playoff contender on some nights and the Bad News Bears on others. During last season's post-all-star break swoon, the Rays lost a lot of games before the lineups were exchanged at home plate. Final scores such as 9-1 were not uncommon. There is something imminently unpainful about those types of losses. When you see the punch coming, you can brace for it. After a weekend in which the Rays beat Johan Santana and got to Joe Nathan in the 9th of another game, and with the Orioles coming to the Trop where the Rays should be a favorite, we never saw this type of loss coming. Fool us once...

• The only moment worth watching in last night's game was a play in which Aubrey Huff committed two errors and the Orioles committed three total, leading to a run. It made us giggle.
• Delmon Young had his 12-game hitting streak snapped. The team record is 18-games, by Quinten McCracken in 1998.
• The Rays streak of 12 consecutive games with a home run was snapped last night, although Ty Wigginton came within inches of extending the streak.
  
• We will know early on tonight if Casey Fossum will pitch a good game. In his first start of the season he gave up 4 flyball outs and 3 ground ball outs and was pulled in the 4th inning. In his last start he recorded 13 groundball outs and only 6 flyball outs and worked 7 innings. The difference is effectiveness of Fossum's sinker. If his sinker is on and he is inducing groundballs, he has a chance to be effective.
  
• Devil Rays haven't moved in the latest ESPN power rankings. Obviously these rankings came out before last night's debacle.
  

The Devil Rays come home to face the Baltimore Orioles for three games in what is the most important series so far in this young season. If the Rays want to show they have improved they need to be competitive in the AL East. That means they have to beat the team that they have the best chance of finishing ahead of this season. With the offense clicking on most cylinders right now and James Shields and Scott Kazmir going to the mound, the Rays must win at least two games in this series if they want to start moving up the standings and possibly reach 81 wins.

• The Orioles are 6-6 after taking 3 straight from the Royals before having Sundays match rained out. Baltimore was 13-6 against the Rays in 2006 including 6-4 at Tropicana Field.
• Center fielder Jay Payton and catcher Ramon Hernandez are on the DL. Hernandez is eligible to come off the DL for this series. Outfielder Corey Patterson will miss the first two games of the series after the death of his grandfather.
• The Devil Rays return home and will begin a stretch where they will play 30 of their next 44 in the state of Florida.
• Aubrey Huff will return to the Trop for the first time since being traded to the Astros. He does not regret playing for the Rays, but he doesn't regret leaving either.
  

But in the end, it started getting old for me as far as the losing. It was time for a change of scenery for me. -- Aubrey Huff

We are curious. Is Huff aware that the Orioles haven't had a winning record in 10 years? That is the third longest streak in baseball.

• The Rays have homered in all 12 games. The record for most consecutive games with home run to start the season is 14, set by the 2002 Cleveland Indians. The overall record for consecutive games with a home run is held by the 2002 Texas Rangers (27).
  

PROBABLE STARTERS
Monday, 7:10 et
Baltimore Adam Loewen, LHP (1-0, 1.80)
Devil Rays James Shields, RHP (1-0, 4.61)

Tuesday, 7:10 et
Baltimore Steve Trachsel, RHP (0-0, 2.63)
Devil Rays Casey Fossum, LHP (0-1, 7.59)

Wednesday, 3:10 et
Baltimore Eric Bedard, LHP (2-1, 5.09)
Devil Rays Scott Kazmir, LHP (1-1, 4.59)

AL EAST	W	L	GB	L10	STK	E#
New York Yankees	1	0	0	1-0	W1	--
Toronto Blue Jays	1	0	0	1-0	W1	--
Boston Red Sox	0	1	1.0	0-1	L1	161
Tampa Bay Devil Rays	0	1	1.0	0-1	L1	161
Baltimore Orioles	0	2	1.5	0-2	L2	160

Twins 3, Orioles 2. The O's dropped their second straight in Minnesota. One day after being bested by a Johan Santana, with less than his best stuff, Baltimore blew an early 2-0 lead and fell to a guy named Boof. Former Devil Ray Aubrey Huff had two hits for the second straight game and his second RBI.

• Bernie Williams called manager Joe Torre and several of his teammates before the opening day match up with the Rays. Bernie insists that he is not retired but that he would not play for any team other than the Yankees in 2007. Williams declined a minor league contract offer from the Yankees before the season began.
• The Red Sox send Josh Beckett to the mound against the Royals. Beckett won 16 in his first season with the Sox, but was considered a disappointment with 5.01 ERA. The Sox and Curt Schilling dropped the opener to Kansas City.
• Toronto will go with AJ Burnett as they try to take two straight in Detroit. Burnett won 10 games in his first season in Toronto, but missed two months.