Date: 7/1/10

Opponent: Tampa Bay Rays

Home/Away: Home

Starting Pitcher: Pavano

Final Score: L 5-4

Record: 43-36

Recap: So much for starting July on a high note. That was pretty rough. A lot of things went wrong for us, and we couldn't finish the Rays off. I'm a little frustrated I must admit. It was one of those games we really should have won. Skinny Delmon was really taking it to his old team, with an RBI single in the 2nd, a game-tying homer in the 7th, and 2 outfield assists (throwing Joyce out at the plate and Shoppach out at 3rd although the latter didn't result in an out as the umpire ruled Shoppach safe on Cuddyer's tag and Cuddyer was credited with an error). It was a really big bummer.

Pavano didn't perform as well as his previous 2 outings, but he did only have 2 earned runs in 6.1 innings (plus an unearned run). Punto had an error on a grounder that he couldn't field cleanly. He ended up making the throw, just not in time. It ended up costing us the game. But the bullpen was also at fault. Rauch had 2 outs and 2 strikes on Crawford before he singled up the middle. Then Longoria doubled to score Crawford, also on 2 strikes. We were just one good pitch away from escaping the game with a win despite the unearned run.

Guerrier has been struggling lately, at least it seems so to me, and he had a rough 10th inning. He started the inning with a single, then hit someone, then allowed another single to score a run. That was where the alleged missed tag at 3rd base occurred. Incredibly, despite having runners at 2nd and 3rd and no outs, no other runs scored. I'm completely confused as to how the umpire missed that call, and I think it's pretty clear that Shoppach was tagged. What I find really incredible is that both Shoppach and Maddon are continuing to insist that Cuddyer didn't make the tag. Would it really kill them to just say the ump was wrong? It kind of reminds me of last year when we were playing the Tigers and Harris tagged Granderson on the heel, but the umpire said he missed the tag and he ended up scoring. When interviewed after the game, Granderson immediately admitted that he was tagged. At least he was honest. I can appreciate that. I suppose it's possible Shoppach didn't feel the tag, but I don't know how you could see the replay and not see it. Whatever. It didn't end up making any difference in the game, it was just another frustrating moment in a frustrating game. Let's hope we can win Friday and give ourselves a chance to win the series. I'm going to the games on Saturday and Sunday, and I'd like to see some wins. 

Best Moment: Delmon Young's whole performance. 

Most Questionable Moment: The umpire calling Shoppach safe when Cuddyer clearly tagged him in the 10th inning.

Worst Moment: Rauch blowing the game and Guerrier losing it.

Quotations of the Day:

• "A loss is a loss, it doesn't really matter how it's done. I'd rather lose that way than get blown out like we did on the road." - Delmon Young. I'd kind of have to disagree. It's way less painful to lose in a blowout because you have no real expectation.
• "They really got my pitch count up throughout the game pretty quick. They move the ball around and they make adjustments as the game goes along. They battled me and I battled them. I gave up two runs with two outs. That's the time to close the door and I didn't do that." - Carl Pavano.
• "It was a tough loss, a good battle and a good ballgame. We had a lead and it just didn't work out for us tonight." - Ron Gardenhire

Suck-Ass Performance of the Game: Jon Rauch (1.0 innings pitched, 2 hits, 1 earned run, 1 blown save) and Matt Guerrier (0.2 innings pitched, 2 hits, 1 walk, 1 hit by pitch, 1 earned run, 1 loss).