GAME REVIEW: Play Ball!!

by Aaron Giddens

		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
NYY		0	2	4	0	0	0	0	0	0		6	9	0
TB		4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2		7	12	1

Click here for expanded Box Score.

Curtain Call by Pena — Courtesy: Sun Sports

Good Afternoon, Rays fans. It's finally happened: the first game that counts of 2012. Along with today we are debuting our new game review format. I've named it the "Star Digest". In the Star Digest, I break down each general position and tell you how I think it performed on a given day and rate it on a five star system (five obviously being the best, and 1 being the worst). With that let's break down today's game against the Yanks.

Outfield: Ben Zobrist flashed the leather in the 5th for the second out. Rays average otherwise. (4 stars)

Infield: Defense lapsed in the 3rd with both Pena and Longo having gaffes but were not errors. Longo got an error in the 7th off a ground ball. Up the middle was the Rays average. (3.7 stars)

Starting pitching: Shields, Shields, Shields. Wow. That was horrible. He never looked comfortable today. And it showed. He ended up going 5 IP and giving up 6 runs on 9 hits. His best inning was the fifth when he sat the Yankees hitters down in order. Hopefully, Shields will find himself before he returns to the mound in Detroit. (1 star)

Bullpen: The Good J.P. Howell made an appearance and got 2 easy outs in the sixth. And to finish out the sixth, Wade Davis got the out on an easy pop-up. He then walked the first batter of the 7th but retired the next two before being pulled. All in all, a solid outing by the bullpen.(4.2 stars)

Catching: Is the Trop jinxed for catchers or something? A usually solid defensive catcher in Molina had trouble today. (2.9 stars)

Offense: Pena welcomed himself back in a huge way this afternoon: a Grand Slam of CC Sabathia. And boy did the Trop erupt, and I did with them. Wow. However, after the grand slam, Pena went cold, thanks to Sabathia's slider. He came back with a single in the 8th off Robertson. On the day, Longo went 3-for-3 with a home run. Leaving runners in scoring position continues to be a plague for the Rays offense. Also what was the bunt foul for a third strike by Molina? What's more, hand that Solden Sombrero to Matt Joyce. However we forced a blown save by Mariano and you can't take that away, thanks Zorilla. And finally Pena walks us off with a long walk-off single off Mo. (4 stars)

Umpiring: Joe West's crew. Need I say more? (1.5 stars)

Player(s) of the game: Carlos Pena

Play of the game: Walk-off single by Pena (very close runner-up is the Grand Slam by Pena)

Final word: Despite the epic win, we are still horrid with runners in scoring position leaving way too many. The game started hot offensively but we quickly became a glacier. James Shields wasn't too hot either. It's only game one and the Umps have some blame in it but if this is what I'm expecting this season, it's gonna be a very long season. However, this was Rays baseball, never say die. Good game, but plenty of room to improve offensively. Now pie Pena please, BJ. (4 stars)