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Tampa Bay Rays World Series progress report: Right on course

Game 2 winner Shields tips his cap after leaving - SI.com

School children all over the country shudder at the thought of progress reports. The Rays, however, have little to be nervous about when reading this World Series progress report. Why? Because if you are getting a World Series progress report it at least means you’re playing in the World Series. So let’s evaluate the first two games for the Rays.

 

Starting Pitching: Scott Kazmir and James Shields had very similar starts. Kaz allowed 10 base runners in six innings while Shields allowed nine in five and two-thirds. That is a ton of base runners. The Phillies’ struggles with runners on base so far in this series have been well-documented, but you have to give a lot of credit to the Rays’ two young guns for being able to pitch out of trouble. I’ve already discussed Utley’s first inning homer off Kazmir, but even with that homer Kazmir still pitched well enough to win. In Game Two, the Phillies had runners in scoring position against James Shields in every inning but the first. What did they have to show for it? Nothing. Both Kazmir and Shields labored with very high pitch counts because of the number of base runners they allowed. Ideally, you want to get at least seven innings, not six, out of your top two starters. Still, there is little to complain about in the performances of Kazmir and Shields. Grade: B+

 

Relief Pitching: In my preview article I stressed the importance of Trever Miller, J.P. Howell, and David Price being able to get Chase Utley and Ryan Howard out. So far, so good in that department. In Game One, Utley singled in the seventh off J.P. Howell, but Howell recovered to strike out Howard and no damage was done. In the ninth inning of Game One, Utley came up with a base open and was intentionally walked. Miller came in to face Howard with two men on base and struck him out. The Rays got out of that squeaky clean also. In Game Two, Utley came up in the seventh with a base open again. This time Price was on the mound and he gave Utley the old unintentional, intentional walk. Price then struck out Howard with two men on to end the inning. Price was still in there in the ninth when Longoria’s error put Jayson Werth on first base and brought Utley to the plate as the potential tying run. Price came through again, striking out Utley and getting Howard to ground out to end it. The only blemish on the bullpen was Price’s two runs – only one earned – allowed in Game Two. Still, the bullpen has done its job so far, getting the guys out that they really need to. Grade: A-

 

Hitting: The home run explosion from the ALCS has finally ended for the Rays. After hitting an unbelievable 16 homers in the final six games against Boston, the Rays have just one in the first two World Series games. In Game One, they were pretty much shut down by a superior pitcher in Cole Hamels. They only managed five hits off Hamels and could get nothing against the red-hot Ryan Madson. Then Brad Lidge came in with a sack full of devastating sliders and put the Rays away. In Game Two, the Rays played some small ball. They had two RBI groundouts in the first inning off Myers and later scored a run when Bartlett squeezed home Floyd. The only RBI hit of the night for the Rays was Upton’s single to right in the second. Overall, I really feel that Brett Myers did not have his best stuff in Game Two and the Rays could have scored more runs. In Game One, they got just about all they were going to get off Hamels. He really had it working. Grade: B-

 

Defense: The Rays committed one error in each of the first two games. Pena’s error in Game one came when he couldn’t handle Kazmir’s throw on Pat Burrell’s dribbler down the line. This play kind of shocked me because Pena has been absolutely outstanding defensively all postseason. No harm came of it though, as Victorino immediately grounded out to end the inning. Longoria was charged with an error in the ninth of Game Two when Werth hit a screamer that bounced off his glove. This could have easily been scored a hit. A run did score on it, but it was iffy as far as whether or not it was an error. Okay, now that we’ve covered the errors, let’s get to the spectacular plays that overshadow them. B.J. Upton showed off his cannon in the second inning of Game One, gunning down Victorino at the plate to turn a sac fly into a double play. Upton has also been his usual gazelle-like self out there covering ground in center to track down everything hit out there. The Rays got another big outfield assist in Game Two. This time it was Rocco Baldelli doing the honors. Jayson Werth inexplicably strayed too far off of first base on Chase Utley’s liner to right and Rocco gunned him down at first for the double play. The Rays are proving, as they have done all postseason, that they are among the best defensive teams in all of baseball. Grade: A-

 

Managing: I think Joe Maddon had the Rays ready for Game One. They couldn’t quite come up with enough hits to win the game, but it was clearly an improvement over Game One of the ALCS against Dice-K. Maddon again used the bullpen beautifully in both games. He brought in Price for the final 2 1/3 innings of Game Two, taking advantage of the fact that there would be an off day ahead to get Price some rest. To me, the biggest challenge this coaching staff faces is to come up with an approach at the plate against Brad Lidge. This task falls on both Maddon and hitting coach Steve Henderson. The Rays were completely lost out there against him and it would be huge if the Rays could get to Lidge before this series is over and end his consecutive save streak. Grade: A

 

The Rays are on course. The bats need to wake up a little bit, and they should against Jamie Moyer and Joe Blanton. Another plus for the Rays would be if Garza and Sonnanstine can go a little deeper into the game than Kazmir and Shields were able to. Still, with the strength of the Rays’ bullpen, they have been able to overcome some shorter outings by the starters. Nothing that has transpired so far in this series has caused me to waver from my original prediction of Rays in six.

 

What will happen in Philadelphia?

 

 

For more info: Complete World Series coverage from Examiners is here.