Rays Win...Again

The Tampa Bay Rays scored six runs in the ninth inning, including a walk-off three run homer from Carlos Pena, to defeat the Cleveland Indians in dramatic fashion Wednesday afternoon. The win, Tampa's eighth in their last eleven games brings the Rays' total home wins to 45, tops by far in all of Major League Baseball.

Well, I will be the first to admit that I figured the Rays would be starting to roll over at this point and become the "Devil Rays" of old. Surprisingly, that has not been the case. Their lead over the Boston Red Sox in the AL East is now three games. That is about five more than anyone would have given credit for, even as recently as the All-Star game, if asked for a prediction.

The young guys have apparently bought into themselves being "a team of destiny. Pena, in his post game interview, had the following to say about what they think of this "team of destiny" title...

"That's something that we definitely think about it and envision. We actually see it in reality at the same time. It's very important for us that we also put it in perspective. We know it's great, we're enjoy it, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. We never lose focus in the fact, 'Hey, let's play the game today.' It's most important for us."

It will remain to be seen if they can live up to the billing, but they are certainly starting to make believers out of a lot of people.

Yankees Suffer Big Blow

For the second time this season the New York Yankees have lost their "ace" for what appears to be a significant amount of time. News broke out on Wednesday that the Yankees have placed young pitching thug, I mean stud, Joba Chamberlain on the DL. (Sorry, couldn't help myself.) No word yet officially as to how long he will be out. After being removed from last night's game due to injury, Joba was immediately sent for an MRI and then today met with Dr. Andrews, considered by many to be the foremost shoulder expert when it comes to sports related injuries. The Yankees, as of Wednesday night, are calling it "rotator-cuff tendinitis." Given the process over the last 24 hours they might as well have just called it an upper body injury (ah-la Belichick) as they clearly do not want to spread any major news about a possible serious injury to their best pitcher.

First the loss of Chien-Ming Wang now the loss of Joba. That is another huge blow to the Yankees and their hopes of a run at the AL East or wild card. They will now be forced to rely on Ian Kennedy, who they are expected to recall to take his place in the rotation. If in fact this injury is one that will cause him to miss significant time the Yankees will need the likes of Kennedy, Philip Hughes, and perhaps even Carl Pavano (GASP) to step up if they are to make the playoffs. Hughes and Pavano are both in the process of coming back from injuries themselves.

This injury makes the addition of another arm such as Mariners' Jared Washburn even more likely. Any move they do make will have to be done through the waiver wire.