J.P. Howell's meltdown

August 27, 7:12 AMTampa Bay Rays ExaminerRob Quinn

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It only got worse for J.P. after Barajas' HR. AP/Darren Calabrese

After allowing only two home runs in his first 49 appearances of the season, J.P. Howell has now given up five long balls in his last 10 games. Tonight’s solo shot by Rod Barajas led to a Howell meltdown that was downright uncomfortable to watch.

We’ve all been there. We’ve had to witness it before, and we see it coming time and time again – The Meltdown. On or off the playing field, your gut usually tells you when an embarrassing meltdown is about to happen. By the time it’s over, you find yourself wondering who’s in worse shape – the person suffering the meltdown or you for being forced to awkwardly observe it? They come in many forms – a sportswriter asking a losing coach the wrong question at a postgame press conference, the person in front of you in line at the checkout with the declined credit card, Sarah Palin sitting down for a friendly chat with Charlie Gibson – but you know when a meltdown is about to happen.

Tonight it became obvious as soon as Howell gave up the tying home run to Barajas and then walked Marco Scutaro immediately after. It was quite evident at that point things were not going to end well. After Howell walked two more to load the bases, Joe Maddon was on the edge of the dugout looking like Stewie Griffin after an errant living room vault. "Uh-oh!! Uh-oh!! Do I take him out or do I leave him in?!?! Do I take him out or do I leave him in?!?!" Unfortunately for Maddon the question was answered by the fact there was nobody ready in the bullpen.

Howell’s wild pitch finally brought the proceedings to a merciful end as Scutaro dashed home with the winning run for Toronto. In J.P.’s defense, the 3-2 pitch to Vernon Wells was ABSOLUTELY a strike. I never, I mean NEVER get on an umpire, but that baby was right down the pipe. I know Brian O’Nora was in a tough spot, being the third home-plate umpire of the night, but how do you call that a ball?

There, you see, even writers can have meltdowns mid-column.

The Rays don’t have too many options at closer and Joe Maddon has yet to comment on whether or not he’s thinking about moving J.P. out of the role. Howell has easily been the best the Rays have in the pen this year, but the home run problems are unacceptable for a closer and Howell, Maddon, and pitching coach Jim Hickey know it. J.P. hasn’t exactly been falling victim to the league’s best either. The five homers he's allowed over his last ten games have been hit by Rod Barajas, Marlon Byrd, Marco Scutaro, Ryan Langerhans, and Yuniesky Betancourt. I hate to say it, but the bottom line is that you are not going to the playoffs in the American League if your closer is giving up home runs to those guys. We’ll see what happens.

How would you rate tonight’s loss on the Rays’ tragic loss scale 1-10? I give it a 9. Let me know in a comment.

Jason Bartlett hits: 132

Jason Bartlett groundball singles between short and third: 27

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Have a great Rays' story idea for me? What are you going to do on Thursday to take your mind off this painful loss while the Rays have a day off? E-mail me at raysexaminer@live.com