• The Rays picked up their 5th victory in a row last night after beating the Tigers for the third time in this four game series, 7-4. Carl Crawford was 1 for 5 with 2 runs and a RBI. Evan Longoria had a big night, going 3 for 4 with 2 runs and 2 RBIs. He hit a 2 run shot in the 8th to put the Rays up three. Carlos Pena was 2 for 3 with a RBI and a walk. Reid Brignac was 2 for 4 with a run. Jeff Niemann had a mediocre start, but he picked up the win to improve to 9-3. Niemann pitched 6 innings, allowing 4 earned on 8 hits. Grant Balfour and Joaquin Benoit each pitched scoreless innings to get to Rafael Soriano. Soriano pitched perfect ninth to pick up his 28th save. His ERA is now 1.82. My guess is he won’t pitch today to make sure he is ready for the Yankees series this weekend.
• The Rays go for the sweep today at 12:10. The Rays offense will face Rick Porcello, who has struggled all season, going 4-8 with a 5.55 ERA.The Rays offense stepped up last night, so hopefully they will keep it going against Porcello to get a sweep and win their 6th straight.
• The Rays will send David Price to the mound. Price is 0ne win shy of tying the franchise record for wins, so he may be able to tie the franchise record for a single season on July 29th. Price is 13-5 with a 2.90 ERA. The Rays need a good start out of him if they want to sweep. Price has been the Rays ace this season, so we will see if he can opick up his 14th win on the season.
• Standings Update: The Rays and Yankees both won last night, so the Rays remain 2 back of New York. Both teams have games tonight, so this could change before the Yanks come to town tomorrow. The Red Sox also won, but they are off today.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (64-40, 1st place) - Beat Lehigh Valley 3-2 

• Dan Johnson and Joe Dillon had two hits each for the Bulls.
• Brian Baker started, allowing two runs on four hits over five innings.
• Mike Ekstrom pitched two scoreless innings in relief to earn his fifth win of the season.

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (17-15 / 53-44, 3rd place) - lost to Mobile 4-1

• Jeremy Hall allowed two run on five hits over 4 2/3 innings to see his record fall to 4-7 on the season.
• John Matulia had a triple and the only RBI for the Biscuits.

Single-A Charlotte Stone Crabs (14-18 / 56-42) - shut out by Tampa 3-0

• Matt Moore celebrated his pitcher-of-the-week honors with a dazzling seven inning performance, allowing no runs and one hit while striking out ten.
• Zach Quate allowed three runs on three hits in the eighth to get the loss.

Single-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (14-17 / 44-53, 5th place) - beat Dayton 5-3

• Julio Cedeno went 3 for 4 with an RBI.
• The Hot Rods got two hits each from Tyler Bortnick, Brett Nommensen and Ty Morrison.
• Kyle Lobstein improves to 7-5 on the season, allowing three runs on six hits over seven innings.

Short-season Hudson Valley Renegades (17-18, last place) - pounded Vermont 14-2

• Burt Reynolds was 4 for 5 with a double and three RBI to lead the Renegades.
• Elias Otero was 3 for 4 with two runs scored and two RBI.
• Starter Wilmer Almonte pitched five innings, allowing two runs on three hits while striking out nine.  He won for the first time this season.

Rookie League Princeton Rays (15-16) - beat Kingsport 11-2

• Ruben Contreras was 3 for 5 with a double and three RBI to lead the P-Rays.
• SS Felix Gonzalez was 3 for 4 with an RBI.
• Starter Jacob Partridge pitched five shutout innings, allowing just four hits, to earn his fourth win of the season.

Rookie League GCL Rays (15-16) - lost to the GCL Twins 6-4

The Rays need help facing left-handed pitching.  Down the road, they could face a bunch of lefties in the playoffs.  CC Sabathia, Andy Pettitte, Cliff Lee, John Danks, Mark Buehrle.  Adam Dunn doesn’t help.  This year, he’s hitting .298 against right-handed pitching, .234 against lefties.  And, his OBP is 51 points lower against southpaws.  Again, how does that help?

To me, Dunn is Carlos Pena’s long lost twin.  They hit home runs and they strike out.  Is there really an argument somewhere that suggests that these two power hitters should hit back-to-back in the lineup?  Talk about a rolling roadblock. 

Earlier in the week, it was rumored that Dunn would cost the Rays Matt Garza.  Really?  At those prices, or anything remotely close, I’ll pass.

• The Rays picked up another win last night, guaranteeing the series split with the Tigers. The Rays scored 3 runs, while only collecting 5 hits. Carlos Pena was 1 for 3 with a 2 run homer. Matt Joyce was 1 for 3 with a RBI double, the one that proved to be the game winning run. James Shields had a good start, going 6 2/3 innings, allowing 2 earned on 9 hits while striking out 7. He picked up the win, improving to 9-9 on the season. Rafael Soriano pitched a shakey scoreless ninth to pick up his 27th save. His ERA is now down to 1.86.
• The Rays go for the series win in the third game of this four game set. The Rays will face Eddie Bonine, who is 4-0 with a 2.72 ERA. This will be Bonine’s first start of the season after spending most of the season in the bullpen. He has appeared in 31 games this season.
• The Rays will send Jeff Niemann to the mound. Niemann is 8-3 on the season with a 2.95 ERA. The Rays need a good start out of Niemann to guarantee the series win. this would be huge heading into a very important series with the Yankees.
• Standings Update: The Rays have won 4 straight and with the Yankees loss last night, the Rays are now only 2 games back of the Yankees. The Rays are still 5 games up on the Red Sox.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (63-40, 1st place) - Beat Syracuse 5-3 

• The Bulls got four runs in the top of the ninth to pull this one out.  Jose Lobaton led off the inning with his seventh home run of the season and Justin Ruggiano followed with a 3-run shot.  For Ruggiano, the home run was his 12th.
• Elliot Johnson was 3 for 5 with a double and run scored.
• Starter Heath Phillips threw 6 2/3 innings of shutout ball, allowing just five hits.

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (17-14 / 53-43, 2nd place tie) - The Biscuits had the night off.

Single-A Charlotte Stone Crabs (14-17 / 56-41) – beat Tampa 12-2

• Reid Fronk had a big game, going 3 for 5 with his fourth home run and five RBI.
• Rocco Baldelli had two singles in four at-bats and drove in a run.
• Starter Frank De Los Santos improved to 8-6 on the season, allowing just one run on five hits over six innings.

Single-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (13-17 / 43-53, 5th place) - The Hot Rods had the night off.

Short-season Hudson Valley Renegades (16-18, last place) - The Renegades had the night off.

Rookie League Princeton Rays (15-16) - beat Kingsport 3-2 in ten innings

• Todd Glaesmann’s RBI double in the tenth was the difference in this game.  Glaesmann finished the game 2 for 4 with a stolen base.
• Starter Eliazer Suero continues to pitch well, allowing two runson four hits over seven innings.
• Matthew Gilson pitched three scoreless innings in relief to earn his second win of the season.

Rookie League GCL Rays (15-15) – beat the GCL Red Sox 5-4

• Matt Fields provided most of the offense, hitting a grand slam in the fifth inning.

• Matt Garza completed the first no-hitter in Rays history last night on a fly ball to Ben Zobrist. The Rays had been no-hit 3 times in the past two years, so it was only a matter of time for the Rays to get one. Of all people in the Rays rotation, Matt Garza would be one of the ones you would guess could throw a no hitter. He had come close twice before, once at the Trop and once in Miami. When Matt Garza is on, he is scary. He was somewhat wild, but he was able to control it to only allowing one walk. He threw mostly fastballs, with the occasional nasty curve or slider thrown in. You could’ve pretty much sat dead red on the fastball and gotten one in the zone each at bat. They just could not hit it. The one thing I noticed about the celebration was that Matt Garza went around to each teammate so they could congratulate him. I had not seen this in all the no-hitters I have watched.Matt Joyce was the other hero, breaking up Max Scherzer’s no hitter on a grand slam after two walks and a catcher’s interference. The Rays only managed 3 hits. Carl Crawford hit a solo shot to dead center in the 8th to make it 5-0.
• The Rays will look to pick up another win tonight and assure the series win. The Rays will face the always tough Justin Verlander. Verlander is 12-5 with a 3.76 ERA. He had a tough start to the season, but he has gotten better since then. The Rays need to get to him early and work the count, like they did to Scherzer. Make him throw a lot of pitches to get to the bullpen early.
• The Rays will send James Shields to the mound. He will have a tough act to follow after Garza’s performance last night. Big Game James is 8-9 with a 4.90 ERA on the season. James Shields needs to turn his season around, and now is the time to start. Shields has struggled of late, so it would be great for him to start pitching well.
• Mark down on your calender,  Matt Garza’s next start will be  on Saturday against the Yankees.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (62-40, 1st place) - Beat Syracuse 15-4 

• The Bulls knocked out 19 hits, including home runs by Dan Johnson (29), Fernando Perez (4) and Joe Dillon (7) to beat Syracuse.
• Dillon was 3 for 5 on the night with four RBI.  Johnson and Perez had three RBI each.
• Virgil Vasquez improves to 5-1 on the season, throwing seven innings while allowing just one run on four hits.

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (17-14 / 53-43, 2nd place tie) - beat Carolina 11-4

• Home runs by Chris De La Cruz (4), Drew Anderson (3) and Leslie Anderson (6) powered the Biscuits past Carolina.
• Drew Anderson was 3 for 4 on the night with two runs and two RBI.
• After replacing starter Heath Rollins, Justin Garcia threw 3 1/3 innings of scoreless relief to get the win.  He’s 3-2 on the season.

Single-A Charlotte Stone Crabs (13-17 / 55-41) – the Florida State League had the night off.

Single-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (13-17 / 43-53, 5th place) - lost to Cedar Rapids 6-0

• The Hot Rods had only three hits in the game, including two by RF Brett Nommensen.
• Starter Kirby Yates allowed five runs (two earned) on four hits over five innings.  The loss moves his record to 2-5 on the season.

Short-season Hudson Valley Renegades (16-18, last place) - beaten by Aberdeen 5-3

• DH Kyle Holloway was 2 for 3 with a pair of doubles for the Renegades.
• Robby Price was 2 for 5 with a triple and two RBI.

Rookie League Princeton Rays (14-16) - lost to Kingsport 6-4

• Kevin Kiermaier and Jeff Malm each had two hits for the P-Rays.
• The Rays defense committed four errors leading to four unearned runs.

Rookie League GCL Rays (14-15) – beat the GCL Red Sox 3-0

• Jacoby Ellsbury DH’d in this game and went 1-3 for the Red Sox.
• Justin O’Conner was 2 for 3 with a double and an RBI for the Rays.

• The Rays began their own streak in Cleveland by beating the Indians for the second straight time at Progressive Field. The Rays picked up the 4-2 win. Willy Aybar went 2 for 3 with a run in this game. John Jaso was 2 for 4 with a run. Reid Brignac had another huge game, going 1 for 3 with a 3 run dinger to open the scoring for the Rays. As for the pitching, Wade Davis gave the Rays another good start, going 6 1/3 innings, allowing 2 earned on 7 hits. He only walked 1, the leadoff hitter in the first. The bullpen picked up the rest, pitching 2 2/3 scoreless innings to finish the game. Rafael Soriano picked up his 26th save by pitching a scoreless ninth. Soriano has a 1.91 ERA on the season, proving that the Rays made the right move going for a closer in the offseason.
• The Rays open up a 10 game homestand tonight against the Tigers. The Ray will face Max Scherzer, who struggled at the beginning of the season but improved after being sent down. Scherzer is 7-7 with a 4.43 ERA on the season. The Rays offense has not necessarily been the best lately, so it is time for the offense to come through. The Rays are 5 games up on the Red Sox, but three back of the Yankees, so this homestand will be important, especially since it is against great teams.
• The Rays will send Matt Garza to the mound. This is only his second start since the All Star Break, since his spot in the rotation moved to before James Shields. Garza is 10-5 with a 4.36 ERA on the season. This is not up to expectations for Garza, as many expected him to have a great season for the Rays. Instead, David Price and Jeff Niemann have picked up the slack.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (61-40, 1st place) - Beat Syracuse 5-0 in eight innings due to rain

• Starter Richard De Los Santos improved to 9-5 on the season as he pitched six shutout innings, allowing just five hits.  This was his second straight start of six innings where he allowed no runs.
• Dioner Navarro was 2 for 4 with a double and two RBI.  He’s hitting .264 in Durham.
• Elliot Johnson hit his seventh home run of the season.

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (16-14 / 52-43, 2nd place tie) - beaten by Carolina 5-1

• Starter Alex Cobb fell to 4-4 on the season, allowing three runs (one earned) on seven hits over six innings while striking out eight.
• Henry Wrigley was 2 for 4 at the plate and is hitting .313 on the season.

Single-A Charlotte Stone Crabs (13-17 / 55-41) - swept Clearwater 3-2 and 5-4

• Nick Barnese pitched game 1, improving his record to 8-4.  He allowed two runs on three hits over six innings.
• Zach Quate picthed a scoreless 7th to get his 16th save.
• Greg Sexton doubled and drove in two runs to lead the Stone Crabs to the first game win.
• In game 2, Rocco Baldelli drove in two runs on a 1 for 3 day.
• Sexton continued his big day, going 3 for 4 with a double.
• Joe Cruz pitched five innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on six hits.  He’s now 8-6 on the season.
• Brian Shouse closed it out, collecting his second save with the Stone Crabs.

Single-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (13-16 / 43-52, 5th place) - lost to Cedar Rapids 7-2

• Starter Jason McEachern allowed five runs on eight hits over 4 2/3 innings.  His record fell to 4-9 on the season.
• Julio Cedeno was 2 for 4 at the plate.

Short-season Hudson Valley Renegades (16-17, last place) - beaten by Aberdeen 5-2

• Starter Devin Fuller fell to 1-3 on the season, allowing four runs on six hits over 3 1/3 innings.

Rookie League Princeton Rays (14-15) - beat Bluefield 18-9

• Huge offensive day for the P-Rays as three players had four hits:  Kevin Kiermaier, Bryan Fogle and Cesar Guillen.
• Fogle had five RBI while Jeff Malm and Scott Lawson drove in three each.
• Kiermaier scored five runs while Brian Harris scored four times.
• Andrew Bellatti was the winner, improving to 2-2 on the season.  He allowed three runs (one earned) on four hits over six innings while striking out seven.

Rookie League GCL Rays (13-15) – had Sunday off.

• The Rays snapped the rediculous streak in Cleveland yesterday, beating Mitch Talbot and the Indians 6-3 yesterday. Ben Zobrist began the scoring by hitting a three run homer off the railing in left. Carlos Pena came up the next inning and hit a solo shot to right-center. Jason Bartlett went 2 for 2 with 2 runs. Carl Crawford was 1 for 5 with a RBI. David Price pitched 7 strong innings, allowing 3 earned on 3 hits, but he did allow 4 walks. Price picked up the win yesterday to improve his record to 13-5. Rafael Soriano pitched a perfect 9th to pick up his 25th save.
• The Rays look to pick up the series win and start a streak of their own today in Cleveland. The Rays will send Wade Davis to the mound. Davis is 7-9 with a 4.41 ERA on the season. The Rays need a good start out of Davis, who has been inconsistent to say the least this season. His last 2 starts have been great, so hopefully this is what we will see the rest of the season.
• The Rays will face the struggling Justin Masterson in today’s game. Masterson is 3-8 with a 5.25 ERA on the season. The Rays offense is due to have a big game, so this may be the opportunity to score early and often for Wade Davis.