MLB 2007

We're almost a month into another MLB season and we've already seen some pretty amazing things. Lou Pinella going nuts about managing another losing team. Albert Pujols putting up Pat Burrell type numbers. Mark Buehrle tossing a no-hitter against Texas, Alex Rodriguez putting up numbers only seen in video games. He's currently on pace for 129 home runs, and had a pair of them last night in Boston. But one thing remains the same. The Devil Rays bullpen sucks, and managing mistakes cost them another game.

Last night I watched pitch by pitch as the D-Rays battled Cleveland at Tropicana Field. C.C. Sabathia was on the hill, and usually that means no offense with a minimal amount of hits, and youngin' Edwin Jackson was on the bump for Tampa Bay. Jackson looked really strong in his effort, really only throwing a few bad pitches, one being a pitch that landed a few rows deep in the left field seats after Indians DH Travis Hafner got a piece of it for a two run shot, his 3rd round tripper on the young season. "E.J." ended up striking out 5 in six solid innings of work. It was a surprising twist in expectations.

Offensively, the Rays also managed to over achieve. 2B B.J. Upton slammed a solo home run right over the 404 mark in straightaway center off of Sabathia, which was a rare display of power for Upton and a rare miscue by C.C. The Rays continued to scrap, down 3-1, with a RBI single in the 6th inning by Carl Crawford, that scored Brendan Harris, and again when aggressive baserunning brought in a run on the legs of Delmon Young (pictured above) in the seventh. So entering the top of the 8th inning, coach Maddon called on reliever Juan Salas. Salas is a great one inning pitcher who has done very well in his short assignments, and set down all three Indians he faced in the 8th. After the Rays were retired in the bottom of the eighth it seemed strange to not see closer Al Reyes come on in the 9th. He was warming up in the bullpen, but instead Salas came up out of the dugout and returned to work. Reyes has only allowed 2 hits and no runs in his 6 innings of work this season. Salas on the other hand has given up runs the only other two times he pitched for two innings as opposed to one, which came April 10th against Texas, and just this past monday against Baltimore. So defying logic, Salas put the first two batters in the 9th on, and Maddon then put the game in the hands of Reyes, who allowed a one out hit to Hafner that scored the go ahead run.

Its a mistake that Maddon shouldn't have made. Looking at the Indians on deck in the ninth, and seeing 1-3: 3B Andy Marte (who was hitting below .200), CF Grady Sizemore, LF David Delucci, and Hafner lurking in the #4 spot, the decision should have been made to pitch Reyes to minimize the chance on facing Hafner. Instead he went with the unproven Salas, who squandered the opportunity and earned the loss. Had the Rays retired the Indians in the ninth, they could have taken a more laid back approach to facing Indians closer Joe Borowski, who just the night before had tossed the pitch that Yankee Alex Rodriguez hit for a walk off home run. Instead the pressure was turned up and the Rays hit three straight pop ups to end the game.

The Rays aren't known for having a successful bullpen, so when your bullpen is doing well, you don't take chances, you go with what is proven. That is the difference between a record of 7-9 and 6-10. Its the difference between starting a series strong and falling behind.