Discuss how much worse my draft was than yours. Remember: friends don't let friends draft drunk.

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This was supposed to a pitchers battle, with the Rays’ ace James Shields going against Red Sox ace lefty Jon Lester. Fortunately for Rays fans, only Shields decided to show up to the game this afternoon. With Shield’s pitching and BJ Upton’s huge day, the Rays swept the Red Sox and pulled to 3.5 games back in the AL Wild Card race.

The Rays offense got to Lester early, scoring 3 runs in the first inning going single, single, walk, single, groundout, sac fly, single, ground out, leaving two men on base. They would tack on a run in the third after Sean Rodriguez drove in Johnny Damon, who led off the inning with his 7th triple of the season. They would get 20 men on base for the afternoon, but didn’t pull more than 4 runs until after they had chased Lester in the 5th inning.

That’s when, with 2 outs and the bases loaded BJ Upton took righty Matt Albers DEEEEEEEEEP to left center field for his first career grand slam. BJ Upton would end the day 4-4 with a walk, 4 RBI s and 3 runs scored. At that point in the game the main questions left in fans minds were: Will James Shields get his 12th CG of the season, and could Josh Freeman engineer yet another come-from-behind victory for the Bucs across the Bay.

Unfortunately, neither would come to pass. While Shields pitched marvelously, he walked Darnell McDonald in the top of the ninth and left to a standing ovation from the crowd at the Trop after throwing 121 pitches. He went 8.1 IP, 7H, 1R, 1ER, 1HR, 3BB and 5SO for the day. It wasn’t his most dominating performance, but outside of a 3rd inning where he gave up a solo home run and squirmed out of a bases loaded 1 out jam without allowing any more runs, he was very, very good.

The sweep brings the Rays to within 3.5 games of the Wild card spot, before heading on their last road trip of the season. This could make or break the Rays playoff hopes, as they face the Orioles for a 3 game set in Baltimore, then face these very same Red Sox for a critical 4 game set at Fenway Park. Jeff Niemann battles Zach Britton at 7:05 tomorrow at Camden Yards.

At this point in the season, when the Rays have a pitching matchup that they like (e.g. Jeremy Hellickson vs Kyle Weiland) they have to win those games to stay in the post-season hunt. While last night’s walk-off win turned out to be both heart-wrenching and exciting for Rays fans, this afternoon’s matchup features two of the better pitchers in the American League.

For the home team, James Shields makes his 30th start and is having the best season of his career. He has thrown a Major League-leading 11 complete games and has struck out a career-high 205 batters. His ERA is a 4th-best-in-the-AL 2.77.

But the man toeing the rubber for Boston on the 10 year anniversary of September 11th is also one of the elite pitchers in the league. Jon Lester’s ERA is 2.93, 6th best in the American League. This should be an exciting game, and if the Rays win this one, they will be a mere 3.5 games back in the wild card race.

There’s something about a walk-off victory that tends to wipe the rest of the game from your mind. Throughout extra innings, you stress about the mistakes Farnsworth made in the ninth, and that the Rays couldn’t capitalize more on early opportunities. You stress about these things until the home team comes to bat in the bottom of the inning, and as soon as there’s hope of a walk-of victory your mind can think of nothing else. That’s how I felt, watching the ball jump off of Desmond Jenning’s bat in the bottom of the 11th. My first thought was that if it got past the outfielders it was an inside-the-park home run, then as Darnell McDonald and Jacoby Ellsbury closed on the ball I thought it would become an out, and finally (when Jennings was standing on third with no one out) I thought that this game could be one more step on the road to the post-season. And then Evan Longoria drove a pitch into center field and it was finally over, and the Rays were a mere 4 ½ games back in the wildcard, with the potential of a sweep intact for tomorrow.

But to get to the extra-inning heroics, you had to go though some pains as a Rays fan. The Rays got to Kyle Weiland early and often, putting runners in scoring position throughout the game. While they scratched out a run in 5 of the first 6 innings, they could have scored far more. The offensive highlights aren’t sticking out in my mind as vividly because, outside of the home run by Casey Kotchman, the runs were generated without base hits. Groundouts in the 1st and 2nd and sac flies in the 3rd and 6th led to the Rays’ runs. The Red Sox tied the game in the top of the 5th with a 2-run homer from Adrian Gonzolez, but the Rays would eke out a 5-3 lead until the ninth inning.

Then Kyle Farnsworth started throwing batting practice. 2 solo home runs to Josh Reddick and Jacoby Ellsbury tied the game, and after allowing another double he was pulled for Cesar Ramos. After the game, Joe Maddon said that Farnsworth is day-to-day with some elbow soreness. Outside of the Farnsworth catastrophe, the bullpen really did well tonight. Peralta, McGee, Howell, Cruz, Ramos, and Gomes all threw zeros for the home team, allowing the 11th inning heroics to take place.

And take place they did, quieting the Red Sox fans in attendance and sending the Rays fans into a frenzy. Not just because it was just one game, but because it gives hope that the Rays may yet reach the playoffs this season. If teams can continue to take advantage of the Red Sox starting rotations’ woes, and the Rays continue their hot streak, then the Tampa Bay Rays may yet reach the post-season in 2011.

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After playing 11 games for the Durham Bulls, Reid Brignac is back in the bigs, replacing seldom-used backup OF Justin Ruggiano, who is heading to the DL with left knee bursitis apparently sustained from repeated use of a wooden bench.

Brignac hit .231 with one homer while leading off for Durham.

Sean Rodriguez, who was given a shot to play shortstop full-time in Brignac's absence, has failed to grasp a hold of the position, hitting just .200/.282/.286 since taking over in July.

Completing the Shortstop Shuffle for the Rays organization, SS prospect and former number one overall draft pick Tim Beckham has been promoted to AAA Durham, and SS Hak-Ju Lee has been promoted from Charlotte to Montgomery to replace Beckham. 

Beckham has hit .278/.341/.399 at Montgomery and will make his AAA debut at just 21-years old. Lee, 20, was acquired from the Chicago Cubs this off-season as part of the Matt Garza trade. He has been tearing up the Florida Gulf Coast League to the tune of .316/.389/.443

There are two essential parts to winning a baseball game: scoring runs and preventing runs.

The Rays didn’t do much of either tonight. They scored 0 runs, which generally doesn’t win you many baseball games. Alex Cobb didn’t seem to be his normal self on the night, allowing 5 earned runs in 4.1 innings. He walked as many as he struck out and his deliberate deliveries allowed the Athletics to run all over the basepaths. The Rays allowed seven stolen bases, which is a club record for a single game. Joe Maddon’s post-game comments make it sound as though the issue was more with the delivery from the pitchers than Robinson Chirinos’ throws.

Pitching-wise, it’s difficult to know what to take away from this game. Afterwards Alex Cobb was taken to the hospital to have some precautionary tests done on his throwing hand. His ineffectiveness could have stemmed from some unknown discomfort. Considering that the Rays are currently running a 6-man rotation, I wouldn’t be shocked to see Cobb hit the DL in the coming days as a result of his hand injury, but for right now no one really knows how bad his injury is.

What we can say is that the offense just didn’t know what to do with Brandon McCarthy. He went 8 innings scattering 5 hits and no runs with 5 strikeouts and nary a walk to his name. The Rays offense was once again shut out at home, making that the seventh home shutout of the season. Robinson Chirinos had 2 hits, including the only multi-base hit of the game, a leadoff double in the eighth inning.

The Rays will try to "meatloaf" the Athletics tomorrow at 1:40. David Price takes on Trevor Cahill with aims at winning the series.

              Rookie right hander Alex Cobb takes the bump for the Tampa Bay Rays tonight in his fourth start since being recalled from AAA Durham. Over that span, Cobb has a 1.86 ERA and .214 opponents' average against. He, Joe Maddon, and Rays fans everywhere will hope that the offense has continued eating their Wheaties. Over their last 3 games, the offense has put up run totals of 9, 8, and 7 and they have averaged 5.14 runs per game over their last 14 games. In the 97 games before Desmond Jennings started leading off and wOBAing .479, the Rays averaged nearly a run less per game, a meager 4.21.

      The Athletics starter, northpaw Brandon McCarthy, is also having a very good season. Tonight will be his 16^th start, and he is coming off of a career-high 9 strikeout game against the Twins. He sports a 4-5 record, but a 3.58 ERA and a lower BB/9 than all but two American League pitchers with at least 100 IP. The Rays will need to swing the bat and make contact to get to him tonight.

      Gametime is 7:10 at always air-conditioned Tropicana Field.

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FC Tampa Bay had a chance to bounce back from a rough loss Tuesday and a long-road trip on Saturday night against the Carolina Railhawks. However, a soft penalty call and headed shot gave the NASL’s leading club another win.

Takuya Yamada was called for a challenge in the penalty area in the second half, and Carolina was awarded a penalty kick. The NASL’s leading scorer Etienne Barbara would slot the shot in to give Carolina the 1-0 lead.

Moments after the game restarted, Carolina was able to get a chipped cross over FC Tampa Bay keeper Jeff Attinella just feet away from the goal. A Railhawk header would add to Carolina’s lead.

FC Tampa Bay would have an excellent chance after earning a free kick 25 yards out from the Carolina goal line. Midfielder Myozzi Gyorio drove the ball with vigor but it would ricochet off of the crossbar, and would be cleared harmlessly away by the Railhawk defense.

FC Tampa Bay would add a late goal on a penalty shot from Mike Ambersly, but it would be too little, too late to earn a point for Ricky Hill’s club.

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The Carolina Railhawks saunter into Saint Petersburg tonight in possession of the best record in the NASL (7-1-1) and atop the league table by a full 6 points over second place Edmonton, the team that demolished FC Tampa Bay (2-4-3) midweek.

 FC Tampa Bay may be utilizing newly acquired defender Kwame Watson-Siriboe this evening. Watson-Siriboe comes to the club on loan for the balance of the NASL season from MLS’s Chicago Fire. After losing 4-0 on Tuesday and looking lost defensively, head coach Ricky Hill will surely be glad to have more reinforcements for the back line.

 They will need all of the help they can get to contain Carolina’s high-flying offensive attack, led by the NASL’s best offensive player this season, Etienne Barbara. Barbara currently leads the NASL in goals, assists, and points. He has scored 11 times, 4 more than FC Tampa Bay has scored as a team this season. Carolina has scored 20 goals this season, 7 more than the next closest team. As if that’s not enough, they also are tied for the league lead in fewest goals allowed with a mere 8.

 Tonight’s match will certainly prove a troubling task for the green and gold. We should learn a lot about Tampa Bay’s ability to rebound from a disappointing loss based on how they perform tonight.

To be completely honest with you, around the bottom of the fifth inning I stopped watching this baseball game. The scene of Felix Hernandez striking out Rays batters occurred more often than John Cusack escaping certain death in the movie 2012*. By the end of the fourth inning James Shields had done his best “Mr. Bean Goes to the Rogers Centre” impression, giving up a season-high 4 Home Runs to the worst offense in baseball.

*I would have rather watched the movie 2012 than this baseball game. That should tell you something.

When I stopped watching it was 8-0 in favor of the Mariners. Felix Hernandez wasn’t going to allow 8 runs in a baseball game on planet Earth. He was especially not going to give up his lead to a lineup featuring such names as Felipe Lopez, Sam Fuld, Reid Brignac, and the ever-spectacular-against-even-the-best-right-handed-pitcher Kelly Shoppach.

The Rays did eke out a run in the sixth (I’m reading from the box score here, as I was watching Russell Crowe murder Romans in Gladiator at the time) so there’s that. I feel like members of the offense took the whole grunge road trip theme too far; some of them were definitely doing Kirk Cobain impressions at the plate (i.e. no longer doing anything).

One hitter who was decidedly alive and kicking was Matt Joyce. He went 2-4 with a double and, ho-hum, another home run off of a left-handed pitcher. Joyce is one of the scariest hitters in the league right now. It’s a shame there’s no place for players like that to showcase their talent (unless, of course, they wear pinstripes.) Oh yeah, and just to make sure his day as my fantasy superstar was complete, Joyce stole third after his double in the first.

Another performance which deserves a group golf clap was that of Juan Cruz. Cruz entered in the top of the fifth inning in relief of James Shields and was able to give the Rays 3 innings of shutout baseball to keep the bullpen in decent shape. With Sonnanstine set to start tomorrow, there’s no real long man in the bullpen. Cruz’s innings helped keep the Rays’ high leverage relievers rested for games the Rays aren’t getting demolished in. With Sonnanstine starting tomorrow, we’ll need every bullpen arm we’ve got rested and ready to go.

Question: What do you get when you face off two pitchers in the top 10 in the American League in FIP off against two offenses which rank in the bottom 4 in OBP in a very pitcher-friendly park?

Answer: Check back with me in the middle of the night.

The two pitchers are of course the Rays’ James Shields and the Mariners’ Felix Hernandez. The park is Safeco. The offenses are… bad.

As a team the Marniers are in last place in nearly every offensive category in the American League. The Rays, while not as bad as the Mariners, are having some big-league issues of their own. The Rays have lost 8 of their past 12 games, and while there has been a stinker or two thrown by the Rays’ pitchers, much of the blame is laid at the feet of the men holding the bats.

Their task isn’t exactly easy tonight, either, as they face the reigning American League Cy Young winner who is sporting a nifty 3.19 ERA and even niftier 2.78 FIP. The good news is that the man who is pitching like the Rays’ second ace is toeing the rubber for Tampa Bay.

James Shields is 5-3 this season and has an ERA just a tick over 2 (2.15). This is a matchup which all involved should expect to be a pitcher’s duel, and the Rays need Shields to be at his very best to have a chance to beat the Mariners. Grab a cup of coffee if you’re going to be staying up for this one, though, as the west-coast game time is 10:10 E.T. 

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Well, forget all of that crap I wrote about FC Tampa Bay’s goal prevention. The Tampa Bay defense was porous all night, giving up chance after chance to FC Edmonton and not giving Jeff Attinella much of a chance most of the night.

Edmonton made the most of their awful playing field, a Canadian football field with turf that made the ball look like it was being played on concrete.

The first strike of the game would come in the 28th minute. FC Tampa Bay had numbers forward for a corner kick, but Edmonton won the ball and quickly counter-attacked. While the entire Tampa Bay club watched Edmonton ran a 4-on-2 and Kyle Porter gave the home team the 1-0 lead.

After Attinella made a wonderful save, Edmonton was given a corner kick in the 37th minute. Edmonton’s Yamada made an attempt at a mid-air volley but whiffed on the ball. Sanfilippo was unable, however, to clear the ball out of the penalty area and Yamada had time to get back up and put the ball into the net uncontested for the second of the night.

Attinella did his best in goal on the evening, including a stop of an Edmonton penalty kick, however those blasted Canadians caught the FC Tampa Bay defense off-guard time and again and took advantage when they did.

Shaun Saiko put in another goal in the 85th minute after playing a 1-2 around Tampa Bay’s defense right in front of the goal. The final tally would come on a beautiful (for them) curling shot from Edmonton’s Shaun Chin in the 88th minute right into the top corner of the goal, leaving Attinella no chance at the save.

FC Tampa Bay’s best chance came in the 53rd minute when a David Hayes cross was headed off of the post by Tsuyoshi Yoshitake then cleared by the Edmonton defense.

Injuries played a major part in this game as well. Warren Ukah was able to get off one shot before having his face demolished whilst challenging for a ball and was replaced by Pascal Millien in the 21st minute. Chad Burt would also have to be replaced early due to injury. This limited coach Ricky Hill’s ability to substitute players and pressed his son Shane Hill into duty.

All in all it was a fairly pitiful performance from a Tampa Bay squad which was far from home and playing just 3 days after their draw on Saturday against NSC Minnesota. They come back home this Saturday to host the Carolina Railhawks, a team which is dominating the rest of the NASL with a 7-1-1 record and +12 goal differential. That game starts at 7:00 P.M.

The green and gold are heading 2372.432 miles (give or take) northwest to the frigid nether regions of our continent to play a match against FC Edmonton. The forecast for tonight is 42 degrees with a chance of rain, so it could get pretty bleak if the weather doesn't break quite right.

Both teams are riding 3 game unbeaten streaks into the match, a streak both teams started in a 1-1 draw in Saint Petersburg a few weeks ago when Edmonton stole a point with a stoppage-time goal.

FC Tampa Bay has been relying heavily this season on its defense and especially on its goalkeeping. On Saturday they were able to earn a 0-0 draw at Minnesota despite missing two of their regular defenders to injury, Omar "The Giant" Jarun (okay, I just made that one up, but seriously the dude’s huge), and Andres Arango.

They lead the league in shutouts with four (the same number that they had all of last season) and have allowed less than a goal per game. The seven goals they’ve allowed this season also leads the league.

The stellar goal prevention is somewhat mitigated, however, by the lack of offense. They have only scored 7 goals this season. If you’re new to basic math, that’s also less than one per match. 

The match starts at 9:30 at Foote Field in Edmonton. As always, the game is being broadcast live on FCTampaBay.com.

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For the second straight game, Jeff Attinella kept a clean sheet, unfortunately against the Stars it was only good for one point.

The defense and goalkeeping was certainly the story of this match. Both Attinella and Stars keeper Joe Warren kept the ball out of the back of the net the entire game despite a number of scoring chances for both sides.

This is the fourth shutout of the season for FC Tampa Bay, matching their total from all of last season. They currently lead the league in goals against, with a mere 7 though 8 games played. Their record now sits at 2-4-2 on the season.

They travel next even further North to take on FC Edmonton (4-1-2), a club which stole a point from FC Tampa Bay three weeks ago with an injury time equalizer. That was Edmonton’s only draw of the season. That game is midweek this Tuesday, the 31st, starting at 9:30.

FC Tampa Bay packs their bags and hops on a plane flight up to the wild north to face the NSC Minnesota Stars in the first matchup between the two teams this season. With their most recent victory, Tampa Bay now has nine points and is currently fifth in the NASL in points, with a game in hand over two of the teams ahead of them in the standings. 

With a win, FC Tampa Bay could move into the top half of the table, which is exciting considering that they only ended a 5 game winless streak on Saturday. NSC Minnesota, on the other hand, had a 4 game lossless streak come to an end on Saturday when they lost to FC Edmonton.

 After their most recent shutout, Tampa Bay has nearly matched (3) the number of shutouts they had all last season (4). For his work in net rookie goalkeeper Jeff Attinella (who was pressed into service following a season-ending injury to first-choice keeper Daryl Sattler) earned NASL Defender of the Week honors. FC Tampa Bay has allowed fewer goals than any other team this season.

 One of the defenders is very familiar with Minnesota. Andres Arrango, signed by Tampa Bay in the off-season, spent the entirety of last season playing for the Stars and logged more minutes on the pitch than all but one of his former teammates.

 The match starts at 8:30 PM and can be viewed for free at FCTampaBay.com. We can only hope they don’t all come back sounding like they were extras in Fargo. 

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Everything finally seemed to click for FC Tampa Bay Saturday night as they finally added to their win tally (and their rapture-survival tally) with a 3-0 performance against the Montreal Impact.

The first 30 minutes of the game were fairly evenly played by both sides. Tampa Bay’s Yoshitake did generate a number of chances and was constantly putting himself in position to trouble Montreal’s defense.

Head coach Ricky Hill has spoken about the team’s inconsistency, and in an apparent effort to generate more offense, he started 3 forwards in this game: Warren Ukah, Mike Ambersley, and Tsuyoshi Yoshitake. The added offensive oomph made its mark in the 40th minute.

The first score of the game would validate Ricky Hill’s decision to keep putting Ukah’s name in the starting lineup. On a cross from defender (and part-time assistant coach) David Hayes, Ukah blasted a shot past Montreal keeper Bill Gaudette to give the home team the lead.

FC Tampa Bay would continue to put pressure on the Montreal defense and appeared to score twice more before the half ended, however each time the goal was disallowed due to offside decisions by the linesman.

In the second half Ralph’s Mob spent a good amount of time cheering the name of Jeff Attinella, who really earned the shutout with some fine saves in just his third professional match. On the couple of occasions where he came off of his line and wasn’t able to get the ball, the Tampa Bay defense stood strong and made key clearances.

In the 74th minute a Montreal defender appeared to handle the ball on a point-blank shot from defender Omar Jarun in the Montreal box and was sent off straight away with a red card. Mike Ambersley would take the resulting penalty kick and slot it home giving his team a 2-0 advantage.

The final tally for FC Tampa Bay would come courtesy of a mistake from the Impact’s Gaudette. A ball off of the foot of Chad Burt sneaked under his arms and Yoshitake was able to get to it quickly and keep the play in bounds. He would take a dribble or two, and slot his shot in from an acute angle before the Montreal defense could recover, finishing off what was a much-needed win for Tampa Bay in the 84th minute.

If only they could play Montreal every week, as FC Tampa Bay is 2-1-0 against them and 0-2-2 against all other competition this season. For their next match the club will travel north to challenge the NSC Minnesota Stars next Saturday at 7:00. That game will be broadcast live on FCTampaBay.com.

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It's been five matches since full time was called with FC Tampa Bay ahead. Since opening the season with a win, the green and gold have drawn thrice and lost twice. That first aond only win came against the Montreal Impact, who are now one of only two teams in the NASL with fewer points than Tampa Bay.

Montreal returns to the states and Al Lang Field on Saturday at 7 PM, and FC Tampa Bay desperately needs a win. Ricky Hull's boys havn't played since May the 11th due to a rainout in FT Lauderdale last weekend (that game is scheduled to be made up Wednesday, June 29th at lock heart stadium at 7:30).

Tampa Bay currently is sitting at 6th in the NASL table out of 8 teams. They will need to tighten up and try to play a whole 90 minutes. Their play has been inconsistent this season of late, having good halves and then stretches of really poor play. They have been generating shots, but have had trouble getting them in the net. We'll see who they line up at forward today, having tried a number of different combinations at the front line.

The rivalry will have to continue some other time. After waiting for about 3 hours while lightning, thunder, and torrential rain pounded South Florida, the match between FC Tampa Bay and the Fort Lauderdale Strikers has been postponed until a later date.

Hopefully we will know soon when the make up game will be scheduled. Stay tuned to SBN Tampa Bay for all of the latest FC Tampa Bay news.