by mike edelman | Mar 19, 2008 | Akinori Iwamura, Al Reyes, Andrew Friedman, Andy Sonnanstine, B.J. Upton, Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, Dioner Navarro, Edwin Jackson, Evan Longoria, Gary Glover, James Shields, Jason Bartlett, Joe Maddon, Jonny Gomes, Know Thy Enemy, Rocco Baldelli, Scott Kazmir, Tampa Bay Rays, Troy Percival
When you’ve finished nine of the ten seasons in your franchise’s history in last place of your division and you’ve only cracked the 70 win mark once, maybe a change of name serves to help wipe that slate clean. At least the Tampa Bay Rays and their...
by evan brunell | Feb 15, 2008 | Al Reyes, Alan Embree, B.J. Ryan, Billy Wagner, Bob Wickman, Bobby Jenks, Brad Hennessey, Brett Myers, Brian Fuentes, Chad Cordero, Chris Ray, David Weathers, Eric Gagne, Francisco Cordero, Francisco Rodriguez, J.J. Putz, Jason Isringhausen, Jeremy Accardo, Joakim Soria, Joe Borowski, Joe Nathan, Jonathan Papelbon, Jose Valverde, Kevin Gregg, Mariano Rivera, Matt Capps, Ryan Dempster, Takashi Saito, Todd Jones, Trevor Hoffman, Troy Percival
Every year, I run a feature here at Fire Brand called Saves per Inning Pitched (SIP). It’s a little statistic I made up that in the general scheme of things, probably means nothing. But I like doing it because it tells me what teams utilize their closer as a...
by shawn medeiros | Sep 24, 2007 | Al Reyes, Alex Cora, Coco Crisp, David Ortiz, Delmon Young, Edwin Jackson, Josh Wilson, Tampa Bay Rays, Tim Wakefield
Tim Wakefield lost his first game at Tropicana Field 5-4 to the Devil Rays and the Boston Red Sox lead in the A.L. East has slipped to 1 1/2 games over the New York Yankees. A two-run homerun by Rookie of the Year candidate Delmon Young put the D-Rays on top 2-0 in...
by shawn medeiros | Sep 23, 2007 | Al Reyes, Andy Sonnanstine, Carlos Pena, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Eric Gagne, J.D. Drew, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jason Varitek, Jonathan Papelbon, Julio Lugo, Tampa Bay Rays
Down by a run in the ninth inning Jason Varitek tied the game with his 15th homerun of the season and Julio Lugo’s 8th homerun of the season put Boston ahead clinching a playoff birth for the club. Al Reyes (3-3) blew his fourth save of season assuring the Red...
by shawn medeiros | Sep 13, 2007 | Akinori Iwamura, Al Reyes, B.J. Upton, Carlos Pena, David Ortiz, Delmon Young, Dustin Pedroia, Jason Varitek, Jon Lester, Jonathan Papelbon, Jonny Gomes, Julian Tavarez, Julio Lugo, Tampa Bay Rays
With no walk-off homers all season long David Ortiz hit a two-run walk-off homerun off of Tampa Bay Devil Rays’ closer Al Reyes and also had a three-run shot earlier in the game defeating the Devil Rays 5-4. Julio Lugo drew a leadoff walk and after a fly out by...
by shawn medeiros | Aug 23, 2007 | Al Reyes, Alex Cora, B.J. Upton, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Edwin Jackson, J.D. Drew, Jason Varitek, Julio Lugo, Mike Lowell, Tampa Bay Rays
One pitch was the difference as Daisuke Matsuzaka gave up a two-run homerun to B.J. Upton eventually losing the game 2-1. Boston as a team left 14 runners on base not helping out their own pitchers cause as Matsuzaka went 6 innings, giving up two hits, two runs,...
by shawn medeiros | Aug 16, 2007 | Al Reyes, Alex Cora, Andy Sonnanstine, B.J. Upton, Carlos Pena, Daisuke Matsuzaka, David Ortiz, Delmon Young, Dioner Navarro, Dustin Pedroia, Jason Varitek, Julio Lugo, Kevin Youkilis, Manny Ramirez, Tampa Bay Rays, Terry Francona
Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. Al Reyes did not allow this quote to ring true shutting down Boston’s second attempt at a ninth inning rally in back-to-back games closing the door in the ninth in the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 6-5 win. Although...
by shawn medeiros | Aug 15, 2007 | Al Reyes, Carlos Pena, Coco Crisp, Jason Varitek, Jon Lester, Manny Delcarmen, Mike Lowell, Mike Timlin, Scott Kazmir, Tampa Bay Rays
Jon Lester returned home to Fenway Park for the first time after battling cancer, but that was not the only delight Red Sox fans got to witness as Boston rallied back in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 2-1 in a pitcher’s duel....
by shawn medeiros | Jul 29, 2007 | Akinori Iwamura, Al Reyes, B.J. Upton, Brian Stokes, Carlos Pena, David Ortiz, Delmon Young, Javier Lopez, Jonathan Papelbon, Jonny Gomes, Josh Paul, Julio Lugo, Kevin Youkilis, Manny Ramirez, Tampa Bay Rays
Jonathan Papelbon blew his second save of the season in 25 chances, but Boston bailed out their closer scoring six runs in the top of the 12th to outlast the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in extra innings for a 12-6 victory and improve their lead over the New York Yankees to...
by zach hayes | Mar 26, 2007 | Akinori Iwamura, Al Reyes, Andrew Friedman, B.J. Upton, Ben Zobrist, Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, Casey Fossum, Chad Orvella, Delmon Young, Dioner Navarro, Edwin Jackson, Elijah Dukes, Greg Norton, J.P. Howell, Jae Seo, James Shields, Joe Maddon, Jonny Gomes, Jorge Cantu, Josh Paul, Know Thy Enemy, Rocco Baldelli, Ruddy Lugo, Scott Kazmir, Shawn Camp, Tampa Bay Rays, Ty Wigginton
This is the first installment of our annual Know Thy Enemy series, where Firebrand goes in-depth and analyzes the key members of each of our division rivals. We
