The Jays will sweep the leg...I mean Rays

Why? Because I fucking said so. It'd be easy to throw in the towel, admit defeat and try to re-tool for next year. Quite honestly, that is horseshit. So what if you've got the Rays, Red Sox and Yankees in front of you? That shit isn't going to change. Not unless MLB plans on re-aligning in the near future. It's July 28th, and I still fucking believe. Wishful thinking? Who knows, and I don't give a shit. These are my guys, this is my team and it's baseball, so anything can happen.

A.J. Burnett was a demon on the hill today, fanning ten while allowing just six hits in seven innings of work. JP has indicated that A.J. isn't going anywhere, and with McGowan on the shelf for the season, I actually buy what he's saying. Joe Inglett is awesome. I don't know if the rest of Toronto would show him the kind of man-love I would, but they sure should think about it. Adam Lind is batting .311 and when Wells returns, assuming he's healthy, that isn't a bad starting outfield is it?

With and inevitable Halladay victory tomorrow and a Jay shelling of Edwin Jackson on Wednesday, the Jays will only be 5.5 back of the Rays and it won't even be August. You're fucking right I'm an optimist, but what the hell is the alternative?

Rays Pride Parade

The Rayvolution Will Not Be Televised

Our friend David Chalk has been crowing about the coming Rayvolution, and with good reason. The young Rays have come of age, marrying explosive offense with effective pitching. But a few stumbles of late may have put the Rayvolution on hold.

They've benefited from a few breaks (+5 on their Pythag. this year) and sport a very similar run differential to the Jays. They struggle on the road, having just split a series with the Royals. Their manager has clearly lost his mind and the Yankees and Red Sox are nipping at their heels. The Rays offense has gone into the tank, as the Yahoo game preview machine tells us:

The Rays have averaged 2.7 runs in their last 16 games, finishing with a double-figure hit total only once in that span while batting .211 as a team.

The true catalyst of the Rays is slumping badly. You know what the ancient Chinese proverb says: however Shitske goes, so goes your offense. While Evan Longoria hasn't been through a true slump (only a slow month of May on his record), isn't he due to hit a rookie wall of some sort? Or can young Evan stay consistent and lead the Rays down the stretch run? Can Andy Tannenbaum? All these rhetorical questions make it seem like there will be an exciting finish to the season. An exciting finish that no one will see, the SEC futebawl season should see to that.

Rays & Jays Prepare for Pivitol Series, End of Days

The reeling Rays host the surging-with-a-small-S Blue Jays in an important with-a-small-I series coming out of the All Star break. Tropicana Field figures to be rockinghalf-full and lifeless for this division "rivalry".

Important-with-a-small-I might still be an overstatement, but the Rays youthful roster and rich history of embarrassment combined with their current 7 game losing streak increase their need to right the ship. Seven game losing streaks are never good, but coming on the heels of a 7 game winning streak demonstrates how tough this team is to figure out. People have been anticipating the Rays collapse since May 1st, but they've continued to play excellent baseball. The Reverend himself declared them the real deal and I certainly won't debate their ability to hit. If the Rays lose 2 of 3 to the Jays, the self-doubt will creep in like so many boxes of donuts into Shitske's locker. They've been kicking the tires on all manner of replacement bat/bullpen timebomb with an eye on the stretch run.

The Blue Jays are in the unenviable position of being sellers with a glimmer of hope as the trade deadline looms. Any move involving AJ Burnett seems less and less likely, especially with Joe Blanton adding to the collective obesity of eastern Pennsylvania and southern Jersey. The not being showcased in the least Burnett starts tonight; his 100th in the last 2 weeks. The Jays need these divisional games if they plan on deluding themselves further into the season.

Should the Rays get back on track at the expense of our Blue Jays, expect nothing short of Hillsborough Bay transforming into a lake of fire. BJ Upton, Carl Crawford, Scott Kazmir and James Shields will be commuting to the stadium on the backs of their undead steeds. If the Rays can sustain their strong first half through the dog days of August, finding themselves playing the ever-popular Meaningful Baseball in September, we will be faced with nothing short of a zombie apocalypse. The head zombie himself, the seventh son born under the seventh sign could be ready for a miraculous September call-up. If that is the case, there can be no doubt of the frightening outcome: Alpha zombie leads soulless army to feast on the flesh of the living, World Series title.

Most definitely eating my words

Raise your hand if you thought the Tampa Bay Rays would have the best record in Major League baseball on July 8th. You did? Fuck you, no you didn't. Unless you're from Tampa Bay, or for some fucked up reason cheer for a team that has been horrific since its inception; you're full of shit.

Granted, it was understood that the Rays were headed in the right direction and were an improved team. There were even some crazy bastards who thought they just might surprise everyone and finish ahead of the Yankees. Shit, we here at Ghostrunner had the Rays pegged to finish 4th place behind the much improved Toronto Blue Jays, but what the fuck do we know?

The Rays can run (see Carl Crawford or BJ Upton), they can hit (see Evan Longoria, much to my surprise) and they seem to have figured out how to get opposing players out. All of this along with the inspirational Rocco to guide them has these upstarts making believers out of baseball fans.

So I'll just sit here and pine as the Jays continually struggle to score even one run behind often masterful pitching while Tampa continue to prove everybody wrong. Every once in awhile things go right for a team and the stars align. It would seem for Tampa, at least for the moment, that winning is contagious.

Winning ways to continue on the Left Coast

The nine game road trip continues tonight as the Jays stroll into Anaheim looking for their third straight victory. After losing the opener bayside, the Jays picked up the last two against Oakland with the last seeing Jesse Litsch follow up his shutout performance with another gem. Yes, Jesse fucking Litsch is 7-1. The naysayers have all shut their mouths and have started a lineup hoping to get their very own shot at swinging from his nuts.

The 12-0 thrashing of the A's saw a few rarities that even made me wonder what the hell was going on. Rod Barajas hit three doubles, which must tie or only leave him one shy of his career total. Kevin Mench recorded three hits, which is the first time since September of last season he's done so. Shannon Stewart actually put a ball over the fence, something I didn't think I'd see for the remainder of his career.

Dustin McGowan takes the hill tonight and is 0-3 vs. the Angels is his young career sporting a decent 3.27 ERA in five games (three starts). Clearly he's going to pick up his first victory tonight. Jared Weaver counters for the Halos and has beaten the Jays the only two times he's faced them. It ends tonight, as the Jays will no doubt thrash him.

It's only a matter of time before the bubble bursts down in Florida when the Rays coming crashing back to the reality of competing in the American League East. I suppose there is the slight possibility that won't happen, but I consider myself a realist.