Power Pros Forum

August Preview
Coming off their worst month of the season, the Rays enter the month of August in second place, two and a half games back of the Yankees for first, but are in first for the American League wild card. August is arguably the hottest month of the entire year, so can that heat get the Rays hot and put up a good month, or will the heat have a bad affect on them and their playing? We have passed the trading deadline, so the rosters from here on out will most likely stay the same, and there are a lot of teams out there to prove they have what it takes to make the playoffs.

8/1 - Rays Acquire P Derek Lowe from Dodgers
ST. PETERSBURG -- In a last minute blockbuster deal, the Rays have acquired right-handed sinkerball specialist Derek Lowe from the Dodgers for left-handed pitcher Chuck James, who was on the active roster at the time of the trade, but didn't have much playing time this season, and two minor leaguers; Outfielder Jonny Gomes and this year's second round draft pick, second baseman Brazell*. Lowe has joined the active roster, taking the place of traded Chuck James, and will replace either Edwin Jackson or Hideo Nomo in the starting rotation. It is uncertain if the Rays will resign Lowe, who's 9750 point contract ends after this season, but it IS certain the Rays got him from the Dodgers to help them get to the playoffs this season. Because he just made his last start for the Dodgers yesterday, Lowe will likely make his Rays debut on the sixth at home against the Cleveland Indians.

8/1 - Trade Update
Twins - Giants

Noah Lowry: Giants >> Twins

Livan Hernandez: Twins >> Giants

Mariners - Pirates

Xavier Nady: Pirates >> Mariners

J.J. Putz: Mariners >> Pirates

Athletics - Reds

Joey Votto: Reds >> Athletics

Jack Hannahan: Athletics >> Reds
Huston Street: Athletics >> Reds
Keith Foulke: Athletics >> Reds

Braves - Padres

Chris Young: Padres >> Braves

Tom Glavine: Braves >> Padres

Cardinals - Padres

Michael Barrett: Padres >> Cardinals

Jason Isringhausen: Cardinals >> Padres

Any thoughts?

The Lowe trade was a steal and what are the standings?

And I like this, its very well organized

The "July in Review" post is on the previous page.

How was the Lowe deal a steal? I tried to make it as realistic as possible. James isn't bad, plus he has high B stamina, Jonny Gomes has B power, and my second baseman just... sucked. I just threw him in because I didn't want him.

8/1 - Tigers (56-53) @ Rays (65-43): Game 1
Justin Verlander: (7 - 5), 4.42 ERA vs. Hideo Nomo: (5 - 2), 2.95 ERA

ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays have opened up August with a victory over the Tigers. The Rays scored the times in the first off Justin Verlander with RBI singles by Carl Crawford, Cliff Floyd, and Dioner Navarro. In the seventh, Jason Bartlett, who's been showing some power lately, belted his third homer of the season, extending the lead to four. Nomo, who had been dominating the Tigers all game, was taken out during a slightly shaky eighth inning in which the Tigers scored two runs on RBI doubles hit by Ivan Rodriguez and Brandon Inge, narrowing the lead to two, but the Rays hang on and beat them.

Final Score:
Tigers: 2
Rays: 4


Justin Verlander (L, 7-6): 8 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 4 K

Placido Polanco: 3-3, R
Ivan Rodriguez: 2-3, RBI, R
Brandon Inge: 1-3, RBI


Hideo Nomo (W, 6-2): 7 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
Dan Wheeler (H, 12): 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
Troy Percival (SV, 29): 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

B.J. Upton: 1-4, R
Evan Longoria: 0-4, R, K
Carl Crawford: 2-4, RBI, R, K
Cliff Floyd: 1-3, RBI
Dioner Navarro: 1-3, RBI
Jason Bartlett: 1-3, HR (3), RBI, R, K

8/2 - Tigers (56-54) @ Rays (66-43): Game 2
Dontrelle Willis: (10 - 5), 4.66 ERA vs. Scott Kazmir: (6 - 5), 3.80 ERA

ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays have lost the second game of this three game series with an extra innings loss to the Tigers. Placido Polanco hit an RBI double in the second to give the Tigers a one-run lead, but Cliff Floyd tied it up in the fourth with a lead-off homer. The Tigers regained the lead in the sixth when Magglio Ordonez hit an RBI single, and the Rays tied it up again in the bottom of the ninth with an RBI single off the bat of the hot Jason Bartlett. The Tigers finally broke through in the fourteenth when Curtis Granderson belted a solo shot as they hang on to win it.

Final Score:
Tigers: 3
Rays: 2
F/14


Dontrelle Willis: 7.1 IP, 9 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K
Joel Zumaya: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
Todd Jones: 3.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
Denny Bautista (W, 3-1): 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

Edgar Renteria: 2-6, 2B, R
Magglio Ordonez: 2-6, 2B, RBI, K
Curtis Granderson: 1-6, HR (21), RBI, R
Carlos Guillen: 1-6, R, K
Placido Polanco: 1-5, 2B, RBI


Scott Kazmir: 7 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
Dan Wheeler: 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
Al Reyes: 3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
Jason Hammel (L, 3-5): 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

Cliff Floyd: 2-6, HR (13), RBI, R, K
Dioner Navarro: 1-3, R
Jason Bartlett: 3-5, RBI

the one thing I hate about relievers are that they stay out too long

Jones and Bautista pitched a combined 6 inning for the Tigers, you'd think they'd get tired...

Yeah, I know. And I had Wheeler and Reyes both pitch three innings each. They were both showing signs of tiredness by their final outs, but still.

8/3 - Tigers (57-54) @ Rays (66-44): Game 3
Ben Sheets: (9 - 5), 2.90 ERA vs. James Shields: (7 - 5), 2.37 ERA

ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays have lost their second game in a row to the Tigers, losing another extra innings game that should have been a win. The Rays scored two in the first to take an early lead on a solo shot by B.J. Upton, and an RBI double off the bat of Evan Longoria. The Rays added to that lead in the eighth with an RBI single by Carlos Pena. James Shields took a four-hit shutout into the ninth inning, but was shaken up as the Tigers came back to tie it with a three-run inside-the-park home run by Carlos Guillen. Then in extra innings, Brandon Inge belted a lead-off homer in the tenth as the Tigers win the game and win the series.

Final Score:
Tigers: 4
Rays: 3
F/10


Ben Sheets: 7.1 IP, 9 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
Joel Zumaya (W, 3-2): 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
Todd Jones (SV, 18): 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

Edgar Renteria: 1-5, R
Curtis Granderson: 1-4, R
Carlos Guillen: 1-4, HR (9), 3 RBI, R
Brandon Inge: 1-4, HR (2), RBI, R


James Shields: 8.1 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
Dan Wheeler: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
J.P. Howell (L, 2-6): 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

Akinori Iwamura: 1-5, 2B, R
B.J. Upton: 2-5, HR (30), RBI, R
Carlos Pena: 2-4, RBI, R
Evan Longoria: 2-4, 2B, RBI

8/4 - Indians (59-52) @ Rays (66-45): Game 1
Jeremy Sowers: (2 - 3), 4.64 ERA vs. Andy Sonnanstine: (9 - 3), 2.65 ERA

ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays have opened up a three-game series against the Indians with a victory. The Rays got to Jeremy Sowers early in the first, scoring three runs on a Carl Crawford two-run single, and an RBI single by Cliff Floyd. Then in the fifth, Jason Bartlett hit a lead-off homer, extending the lead to four, and in the same inning, Carlos Pena hit an RBI single. The Rays scored once more in the seventh on an RBI triple off the bat of Carl Crawford. B.J. Upton was injured sliding into home plate on this play, and had to leave the game. His condition is not known at this time. The Indians scored their only run in the ninth on a solo shot off the bat of Casey Blake. Also in this game, Rays starting pitcher Andy Sonnanstine took a perfect game into the fifth but was broken up with two outs in the fifth with a double by David Dellucci. Sonnanstine would go on to win the game.

Final Score:
Indians: 1
Rays: 6


Jeremy Sowers (L, 2-4): 5 IP, 10 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
Craig Breslow: 3 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

Casey Blake: 2-4, 2B, HR (15), RBI, R
David Dellucci: 2-4, 2 2B


Andy Sonnanstine (W, 10-3): 7.1 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
Jason Hammel: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
Troy Percival: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

Akinori Iwamura: 1-4, R, K
B.J. Upton: 2-3, 2 R
Carlos Pena: 2-4, RBI, R
Carl Crawford: 2-4, 3B, 3 RBI, R, K
Cliff Floyd: 2-4, RBI
Jason Bartlett: 2-4, 2B, HR (4), RBI, R

8/5 - Indians (59-53) @ Rays (67-45): Game 2
Masahide Kobayashi: (4 - 4), 4.72 ERA vs. Matt Garza: (8 - 6), 3.20 ERA

ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays have won the second game now of this three game series against the Indians at home. The Indians scored their only run and had the lead in the fourth when Travis Hafner belted a lead-off home run, but Dioner Navarro tied it up in the fifth with his own solo shot. The Rays then took the lead in the seventh when Evan Longoria blasted a solo shot to lead-off the inning. They would score two more in the eighth on an RBI single by Akinori Iwamura and an RBI double by B.J. Upton as the Rays take the win, and go for the sweep tomorrow with Derek Lowe making his Rays debut.

Final Score:
Indians: 1
Rays: 4


Masahide Kobayashi: 4.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
Craig Breslow (L, 5-3): 2.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
McClellan*: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

Grady Sizemore: 1-4, 2B
Travis Hafner: 2-4, 2B, HR (23), RBI, R
Victor Martinez: 1-4, 2B


Matt Garza (W, 9-6): 9 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

Akinori Iwamura: 1-4, RBI
B.J. Upton: 1-4, 2B, RBI
Evan Longoria: 1-4, HR (27), RBI, R
Dioner Navarro: 1-3, HR (9), RBI, R
Rocco Baldelli: 1-3, 2B, R
Jason Bartlett: 1-3, R

8/6 - Indians (59-54) @ Rays (68-45): Game 3
Jake Westbrook: (8 - 4), 5.01 ERA vs. Derek Lowe: (7 - 11), 5.56 ERA

ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays have swept the Indians at home behind a solid start by Derek Lowe making his Rays debut. The Indians did score the first run of the game in the fifth on an RBI single by Jamey Carroll, but that would be the only run allowed. In the bottom of the fifth, Cliff Floyd belted a two-run homer to give the Rays the lead that would hold. Evan Longoria belted a solo shot in the seventh, and also got an RBI single in the eighth to add to the lead as the Rays win and sweep the Indians. Derek Lowe pitched seven strong innings in his Rays debut, giving up the one run on six hits and fanning five.

Final Score:
Indians: 1
Rays: 4


Jake Westbrook (L, 8-5): 7.1 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
Jorge Julio: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

Jhonny Peralta: 2-3, R, K
Jamey Carroll: 1-3, RBI


Derek Lowe (W, 8-11): 7 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K
Dan Wheeler: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
Troy Percival (SV, 30): 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

Akinori Iwamura: 1-4, R, K
Evan Longoria: 2-4, HR (28), 2 RBI, R
Gabe Gross: 1-2, 2B, R
Cliff Floyd: 1-4, HR (14), 2 RBI, R