AL East race, September 5, 2010

NYY 86-51 [4-1 in SEPT] 
TBR 83-53 [2-2 in SEPT] (2.5 GB)

MLB.com: Long ball burdens Hughes as Yanks cooled

Phil Hughes gave up three home runs as the Yankees’ eight-game winning streak came to an end on Sunday in a 7-3 loss to the Blue Jays.

MLB.com: Four homers not enough for Rays against O’s

Tampa Bay tied a season high with four homers in Sunday’s game against the Orioles. But it wasn’t good enough for a victory, as Baltimore’s four-run sixth inning proved to be enough to let the Orioles hang on for an 8-7 win over the Rays in front of 28,268 at Camden Yards.

Matt Garza angry that Orioles’ Luke Scott used Bible to criticize him

Man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward toward the catwalks.

RHP Matt Garza didn’t really care what Orioles DH Luke Scott had to say about him. But he did not care much for how Scott did so, invoking biblical proverbs.

“To each his own interpretation; that’s what the Bible is. I’m a Christian, too; a Catholic Christian. He’s throwing something in that shouldn’t even be allowed to be brought in,” Garza said. “That’s a topic where you don’t ever bring that up. …

“My feeling is that God has a lot better things to worry about than if I’m going to throw a strike on a certain pitch. A lot of other things. I’d rather (Scott) not bring it up.”

The backstory was that going into Friday’s game, Garza said he was seeking payback for how the Orioles did in their previous meeting. After Garza led the Rays to a win, Scott admitted Garza was successful but chastised him for boasting, citing a Proverb that “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Garza, though, said Scott is being somewhat hypocritical given his elaborate home run celebration that includes pointing to the sky, hugging the on-deck hitter and high-fiving multiple teammates, including a choreographed slap-fest with Felix Pie.

“It’s the same thing, where you’re showing up the other guy,” Garza said. “The game’s gone that far to where it’s acceptable. It’s just what it is.”

AL East race: September 4, 2010

NYY 86-50 [4-0 in SEPT] 
TBR 83-52 [2-1 in SEPT] (2.5 GB)

MLB.com: Bullpen up to challenge as Thames homers

The Yankees’ bullpen was again the story on Saturday, tossing 4 1/3 shutout frames for the second consecutive day in New York’s 7-5 win over the Blue Jays.

Yahoo.com: Showalter wins 900th as Orioles beat Rays 8-4

AL East race: September 3, 2010

NYY 85-50 [3-0 in SEPT] 
TBR 83-51 [2-0 in SEPT] (1.5 GB)

MLB.com: Yanks motor on to seventh straight win

With Derek Jeter getting a routine day off Friday, Yankees manager Joe Girardi trotted out a lineup with Brett Gardner and Curtis Granderson hitting first and second, respectively, for the first time this season. It turned out to be a pretty good idea.

Yes, in their 7-3 win over the Blue Jays, the Yankees were propelled by a little G-force at the top of the order. The pair of speedy left-handed-hitting outfielders combined to reach base seven times, score four times and drive in four runs, tormenting Toronto pitchers all afternoon.

MLB.com: Garza tops O’s to kick off Rays’ road trip

Matt Garza yielded a run on five hits to win his third straight decision, and the Tampa Bay Rays didn’t lose any ground in the playoff race, earning a 4-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Friday night in the opener of a nine-game road trip.

AL East race: September 2, 2010

MLB.com: CC allows just one hit as Yanks sweep A’s

CC Sabathia continued his regular-season unbeaten streak at Yankee Stadium, turning in a dominant performance as the Yankees completed a four-game sweep of the Athletics, 5-0, on Thursday.

Curtis Granderson, who replaced an injured Nick Swisher in the second inning, provided the bulk of the offense with a pair of home runs in New York’s sixth consecutive win

NYY 84-50 [2-0 in SEPT] 
TBR 82-51 [1-0 in SEPT] (1.5 GB)

MLB.com: Rays fall victim to Jays’ 10-run inning

Tuesday night’s game had real potential for the Rays. But that was only at the beginning, long before the Blue Jays strung together a 10-run inning and ruined all the fun.

Toronto’s offensive explosion in an eventual 13-5 win over Tampa Bay took away some of the focus from Rays starter Jeff Niemann, who was trying to rebound after his last, equally rough, outing.
...
The 10-run assault tied a Rays club record for most runs allowed in a single frame, and was the first time it had happened at Tropicana Field. Conversely, it was the first time Toronto had scored 10 runs in an inning since July 25, 2007, when the Blue Jays scored 11 against the Twins.

MLB.com: Yanks close August alone in first

Most valuable defender: Beltre or Longoria? - Stats & Info Blog - ESPN

Congratulations to Longoria for winning the Emmy for Most Outstanding Web Gem of the Year in an Extra Inning Game Played on Thursday!

Dan Johnson homer lifts Tampa Bay Rays to 3-2 10-inning win over Boston Red Sox

Did the sculptor that made the R. Budd statue also make the Mike Lowell one?

Okay, so maybe there wasn’t the drama of 2008, such as the harried arrival from the minors, the September date and the showdown with Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon.

But the home run Dan Johnson hit Saturday night could end up being just as big, a walkoff shot in the 10th inning off Scott Atchison that gave the Rays a 3-2 victory over the Sox.

“I think it’s just a coincidence that I’ve come up in those situations against this team, and it’s great to be able to succeed,” Johnson said. “I’d like to think I could do it against any team, but it just so happens to be that I’ve been up against the Red Sox that I’ve done it.”

The Sox didn’t care much for the irony. “I don’t care who hits it,” manager Terry Francona said. “It hurts either way.”

The Rays (79-50) remained tied with the Yankees for the sixth consecutive day atop the American League East. Of more relevance, at least for the moment, is that they knocked the Red Sox back to 5½ games out in the wild-card race heading into tonight’s ESPN nationally televised series finale.

MLB.com: Rays set to add Hawpe to outfield mix

Brad Hawpe, recently released by the Rockies, has signed a Minor League deal with the Rays… The 31-year-old lefty hitter also drew interest from the Red Sox and Rangers, but signed with Tampa Bay—tied for the best record in baseball—because it offered him the most playing time, according to FOXSports.com.

The Rays will pay him the prorated minimum and he will report to Class A Charlotte before working his way to the big league club.

ESPN: Source: White Sox claim Manny Ramirez

The clock started ticking on Manny Ramirez’s future as a Dodger on Friday, when the Chicago White Sox were awarded a waiver claim that gives them exclusive rights to make a deal to acquire Ramirez over the next four days. The teams now have until 1:30 p.m. ET Tuesday to complete a trade. According to a source monitoring the waiver wire, the White Sox were one of three teams to claim Ramirez after the Dodgers placed him on trade waivers Wednesday.

The Texas Rangers also claimed the 38-year-old future designated hitter, a source told ESPNDallas.com’s Richard Durett. And there were strong indications that the other team to claim Ramirez was the Tampa Bay Rays.

ESPN: Manny Ramirez not in Dodgers lineup

MLB.com: Lilly placed on waivers by Dodgers

Rays Manager Joe Maddon apologizes to Trop roof

He must have done this a skillion times…

Rays Skipper Joe Maddon via Twitter today:

“most recent whine was my getting on Trop roof, have since apologized to said roof and r now on much better terms, maybe best ever…”  RaysJoeMaddon

Why did Maddon feel the need to apologize to the roof at Tropicana Field? He was referring to his postgame rant following the 8-6 loss to the Twins on August 5 when a ninth inning, two-out pop up by Twins left fielder Jason Kubel hit a catwalk high above the Trop, around 190 feet over the field, changed direction, and fell behind the pitcher’s mound for a go-ahead single in the ninth inning. None of the Rays infielders could recover in time to make the catch. Consequentially, Maddon pretty much blamed the Rays’ loss on the roof: “to lose a game in a pennant situation like that because of the roof truly indicates why there is a crying need for a new ballpark in this area regardless of where they put it…it needs to be a real baseball field.” -Joe Maddon, August 5, 2010

Glad to hear they made amends.

Discussing the sporting life over three lunches with Durham Bulls outfielder Fernando Perez

This was a really interesting piece I read at lunch today.  The first lunch has some very interesting aspects about minor league life. 

I found this part:

Perez is of Cuban descent, but he’s American and grew up in an affluent New Jersey suburb, where he went to a private high school before attending Columbia University (he’s one of just a handful of Ivy Leaguers in baseball). He moves freely and easily between the white, black and Latino players in the Bulls clubhouse (he speaks Spanish fluently) but seems something of an outlier to all. He is a gifted athlete—blazingly fast, he was a child soccer prodigy before he found baseball—yet he speaks more passionately of poetry than he does about the sport he now plays professionally. Perez has in fact gained a sort of cult notoriety as that baseball player who writes poetry.

The lunching Perez, unlike the ballplayer, isn’t fast at all. He carefully considers the menu and sometimes has trouble deciding what he wants—most athletes don’t seem to care, as long as it’s filling—and has a tendency to pick at his food. Each time we went out, it took him more than an hour to eat his modest portion. Perez’s speech, too, is slow. He talks the way a poet thinks: self-aware, as though listening to his words as he utters them, revising them, laboring to articulate his ideas.

a bit strange - he went to Columbia - I would expect him to be “slef-aware” and thoughtful of what he was saying, rLr notwithstanding.

‘BRayser’ Sadly Added To MLB Fashion Lexicon

Not that you could tell…but Wimp Sanderson just threw up on himself.

For whatever reason, Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon thinks it’s a good idea for his team to have fashion-themed road trips.  The picture above are the Rays new “BRaysers“, which is a combination of the words “Ray” and “Blazer.”  Clever, eh?  Apparently, the fashion work was done by fashion designer Julia Alarcon with the help of Rays TV broadcaster Todd Kalas, who was also sporting a BRayser on Tuesday night.  Personally, I’d prefer to be given a rookie hazing haircut.  For whatever reason, Maddon is thrilled with the hideous jackets:

  The BRaysers are in, they’re fabulous, they met with everybody’s approval,” Maddon said. “We’re going to wear them on this trip – the team BRayser.”

Romano: Rays will need more from MVP candidate Evan Longoria to reach playoffs

And the St. Petersburg Times will need more from…

The case for Evan Longoria as American League MVP is not obvious. There has been more talk about the second baseman in New York. The outfielder in Texas and the first baseman in Detroit have better-looking numbers.

But if you view the award in its most literal sense — the most irreplaceable player on a team — then you can make a case that Longoria had the rest of the league beat heading into the summer. The question today is whether he can finish the job.

The only way Longoria is a realistic contender for MVP is if the Rays reach the playoffs. And it’s starting to look like the best way for the Rays to hold off the Red Sox is for Longoria to get his rear in gear.

...But this offense needs more. The disparity between Longoria’s batting average in victories (.348) and losses (.188) just points out how valuable he is to this lineup. And over the next seven weeks, he needs to be the player everyone else turns to.

Numbers are nice, but memories are what helps make a player’s career special.

With the Rays struggling to hang on during a pennant race, Longoria has an opportunity to create that type of lore. He has a chance to prove that he really is Tampa Bay’s most valuable player.

Marchman: Rays unusually prone to no-hitter?

Don’t tell me they want Burrell back again.

Tampa Bay’s hitters are good, but they have a flaw: They are, essentially, a take-and-rake lineup. The team rates fifth in the American League in on-base percentage, but fourth from the bottom in batting average. They lead the league in both walks and strikeouts as a percentage of plate appearances, and are fourth-worst in both groundball-to-flyball ratio and line drive percentage. Basically they draw walks, hit for extra bases and otherwise beat the ball into he ground, which is essentially what you would be looking for in a team especially liable to being dominated on a given afternoon.

Additionally, their home park is possibly the worst in baseball for the base hit. Tropicana Field has reduced base hits by about 11 percent compared to an average park this year; the Rays and their opponents have hit .256 away from Tampa Bay this year, but just .238 at the Trop. The only worse park for the base hit in the majors has been the Oakland Coliseum.

Perhaps not coincidentally, five of the seven games in question here have been played in one of those two parks, four coming in Tampa Bay while the fifth, Braden’s perfecto, came in Oakland. Cleveland’s Progressive Field, where Carmona pitched his gem, is the 11th worst park in the majors for base hits. Only Toronto’s Rogers Centre, where Morrow exhibited his brilliance, rates above the average as a base hit park.

BLUE JAYS’ MORROW WHIFFS 17 RAYS IN ONE-HIT VICTORY

The Morrow project: Loses no-hitter on bolt to hole.

For the second straight day, the Toronto Blue Jays got a standout performance, as starting pitcher Brandon Morrow threw a one-hitter and the Blue Jays held on to defeat the Tampa Bay Rays 1-0.

Morrow (9-6), 26, was overpowering throughout, striking out 17 Rays, allowing two base-runners in the first eight innings before fatigue appeared to set in for the ninth, when he allowed a walk to Ben Zobrist and a two-out hit to Evan Longoria, leaving the Rays with runners on the corners before Morrow struck out Dan Johnson to end the threat and cap a phenomenal pitching performance. 

Longoria’s hit, with two out in the ninth, was nearly snared by a diving Aaron Hill, but the Blue Jays’ second baseman couldn’t come up with it.

Rays: Davis, Niemann to have shoulders examined

Attention: Stay off the Sunshine Skyway Bridge! REPEAT…Stay off the Sunshine Skyway Bridge!

Prior to Sunday’s contest against the Blue Jays, Rays righties Jeff Niemann and Wade Davis were sent to Florida to be examined by the team’s medical staff.

Both starters had been experiencing posterior right-shoulder soreness over the past couple days.

While it was noted following Saturday afternoon’s 17-11 loss to the Jays that Niemann would not make his scheduled start on Sunday—replaced by Andy Sonnanstine—the development with Davis was unexpected.

Following his six-inning performance against the Twins on Thursday, where he surrendered six runs on ten hits, Davis said he felt fine. After a couple days of increasing stiffness, manager Joe Maddon and his training staff decided to send both Niemann and Davis back to Florida for precautionary reasons.

“Sure their is always concern,” Maddon said. “These are two really valuable people and players for us. Again, Jeff keeps telling me, ‘I feel better, I feel better, I feel better,’ but then just doesn’t get right over the hump, so we want to make sure. It’s almost the same thing with both of them, they just need to be looked at. We all need to know that we’re not going to hurt them by [overworking] them.

“We’ll just know more after they’re both examined [Monday], and we can make more definitive plans.”

Blue Jays: J.P. Arencibia homers on first big league pitch

The other 43 HR’s hit today were not.

The baseball rocketed off the bat of J.P. Arencibia, towering high over left field and dropping into the Blue Jays’ bullpen beyond the wall. It was a memorable home run that marked the first of the young catcher’s career.

And it came on the first pitch he saw in the big leagues.

With a runner on second base and no outs in the second inning, Arencibia stepped into the batter’s box at Rogers Centre for his first Major League at-bat. Rays starter James Shields unleashed a 93-mph fastball, which Arencibia crushed for a two-run homer to put the Blue Jays ahead, 3-0.

The rookie added a double in his second at-bat in the third with the Jays ahead of the Rays, 6-2. Arencibia added a single in his third at-bat in the fifth, leaving the catcher a triple short of the cycle. He launched his second career homer over the right-field wall to put the Jays up, 14-5, in the sixth.

Rays’ Carlos Pena Latest to Hit DL

Sure they don’t mean Carlos Quintana or maybe Juan Pena?

There are no indications that Pena’s problem—a plantar fascia sprain in his right foot—will keep him out for an extended period, but his loss is nonetheless a blow for Tampa Bay, which is engaged in a running battle for first place with the Yankees and trying to pull away from the Red Sox.

Pena hadn’t played since leaving Saturday’s game with the injury, so the move is retroactive to Aug. 1. That will allow Pena to return relatively quickly as long as his foot cooperates.

Pena hasn’t been quite the offensive force this season that he has the last few years, but had started to put it together at the plate lately. He’s hitting .212 with a .772 OPS, 23 homers and 68 RBI this season, but has had a long way to come back after a horrific May. He hit .120 with a .483 OPS in the second month of the season, striking out 37 times in 100 at-bats.

The Rays will likely use a variety of players to replace Pena, including super-utility guy Ben Zobrist, Willy Aybar and the recently recalled Dan Johnson. But having his power bat in the middle of the lineup will be important for them down the stretch and into October.

Who Got the Better of the Matt Garza-Delmon Young Trade?

But, but, but…Delmon Young is finished, right?

Garza’s no-hitter and Delmon Young’s recent emergence in Minnesota got me (and others) to think about the trade that sent Garza, Jason Bartlett, and Eduardo Morlan to Tampa for Young and Brendan Harris.

Bartlett was excellent in 2009 when he posted 4.8 WAR, but has posted a mark of just 0.5 WAR midway through an injury-riddled season. Morlan is still at AA where he posted a 3.99 ERA in 70 relief innings. Brendan Harris has been at about replacement level with the Twins, with a decent first season and below replacement seasons over the last two years. Essentially, this trade boils down to Garza and Bartlett for Young.

...

I know that I’m gushing about Young, but at the end of the day, this looks like a situation where we’re looking at upside versus a proven commodity with less room for improvement. ZIPS is not particularly convinced that either of them will be that much better than league average, but I think that if Young keeps this up for another couple of months, we’ll see a more favorable projection in the coming years. A year from now, we may be nodding our heads, saying that the Twins won the Garza-Young trade.

R. Alomar Involved in Alleged Domestic Violence Incident

TV personality and model María “Maripily” del Pilar Rivera went public Monday with her plan to divorce Roberto Alomar, claiming in an interview that she was victim of domestic violence at the hands of the Puerto Rican baseball great.

“It was a living hell for me. I am getting divorced and never going back,” Maripily said in a telephone interview aired on the “SuperXclusivo” program on WAPA TV. The show broadcast an image of an alleged complaint filed by the TV presenter in the state of Florida.

Alomar immediately denied any wrongdoing.

How will this impact his Hall of Fame chances?  :)

MLB: In debut, Hellickson vaults Rays into first

To Hellickson and back…to the minors.

Jeremy Hellickson looked like the real deal in his first Major League start while leading the Rays to a 4-2 win over the Twins on Monday night at Tropicana Field with 17,689 watching. With the Yankees’ loss to the Blue Jays, the Rays moved into a first-place tie with New York atop the American League East.

By winning, the Rays moved to 7-1 on the current homestand while improving their record to 66-39 on the season. Meanwhile, the Twins saw their eight-game winning streak come to an end.

Hellickson, making a one-start trip to “The Show,” held the Twins to two runs on three hits in seven innings to pick up his first Major League win.

Brown: Rasslin’ Rays: Balfour on DL after horseplay with pitching coach

The Tampa Bay Rays placed right-handed set-up man Grant Balfour on the disabled list because of an injury to his left side suffered because he and pitching coach Jim Hickey were engaged in tomfoolery on the field before batting practice Friday.

Balfour, a highly valuable bridge to closer Rafael Soriano, is expected to miss 4-6 weeks. His loss prompted general manager Andrew Friedman to acquire Chad Qualls(notes) from the Arizona Diamondbacks in a deadline deal.

The Rays, who are one game behind the New York Yankees in the AL East standings, seem to be taking this well considering. Balfour, one of the league’s harder throwers and more effective relievers, had pitched 22 times in the seventh inning this season without allowing a run. The Aussie rules. Or, ruled.

...Unlike Marlins manager Edwin Rodriguez, who banned the shaving cream face pie after Chris Coghlan(notes) ripped up his knee last week, Maddon said he won’t make any changes to his team’s conduct policy.

It’s usually hard to argue with Maddon, who wears the smartest glasses in the majors. But I dunno about this.

Thanks to Frunno.

ESPN NY: Mathews: Joe Girardi has a very bad day vs. Rays

Seeing that he hit .361 against them in his career…I guess he was due for an off day.

No Alex Rodriguez? No Brett Gardner? Berkman at first in place of Mark Teixeira? Kearns starting in left?

If it wasn’t for the name “Jeter” appearing where it is just about every day, at the top of the list, it would have been difficult to determine at first glance that this was a Yankees lineup card at all.

That was just the beginning of a strange day for Yankees manager Joe Girardi, who is always concerned about resting his horses and somehow—on this day, in this game, against this team at this point in the season—chose to rest three of them. (Teixeira technically got only a half-day’s rest, but still.)

Worse than that, he went and defeated his own purpose by using Rodriguez to bat for Kearns in the seventh, necessitating that he also rouse Gardner from his day of rest because he now needed a left fielder.

...So how Girardi—a manager who prides himself on the mastery of statistics and tendencies and spray charts and matchups—could choose to send out the B team against an A opponent is a mystery not even he could fully explain.

“I’m just playing so I don’t blow somebody out,’’ he practically shouted after the game when asked about his lineup. “I had talked about giving Alex a day off, and I can’t play Tex 37 out of 38 days or I’m gonna break him down. People they’re gonna question it, but I gotta think about the long haul.’‘

Jeremy Hellickson to Make Spot Start Monday for Rays

Another highly touted prospect is on his way to the majors—at least temporarily.

Right-hander Jeremy Hellickson will be called up to start for the Rays on Monday night against the Twins, Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon announced following Saturday’s game.

Hellickson is not joining the rotation, Maddon said; instead, the Rays existing starters will all be pushed back a day.

Hellickson ranked No. 8 on FanHouse scout Frankie Piliere’s midseason list of the top prospects still in the minors. The 23-year-old has been dominant for Durham this season, going 12-3 with a 2.45 ERA in 21 Triple-A starts. He has walked 35 and struck out 123 in 117 2/3 innings.

Thanks to The DiFelice Brothers.

Shelton: Can the Tampa Bay Rays’ David Price reach the rarefied air of 20 wins?

To do what Tully Sparks once did. Truly amazing.

Then imagine it happening 20 times in a season.

David Price, the kid with a chance, stands at his locker, imagining the possibilities. Yes, he says, 20 games is a lot. Yes, he says, winning one game is a chore.

“You’re talking about winning 67 percent of your starts,’’ said Price, who pitches today when the Rays finish a four-game series against the Tigers. “That’s tough to do. You can go out there and have your best stuff, and you still might not get a decision.”

That said, Price has a shot. He’s going for his 14th victory today, and he has roughly a dozen starts thereafter. Yes, it’s possible. No, it isn’t probable. These days, the odds are always against a pitcher breaking a 20.

...Blame pitch counts, if you want. Blame closers and setup men and left-handed specialists. Blame bullpen matchups, because sheer numbers suggest the more relievers a team uses, the more likely one of them is to have an off night. Blame five-man rotations. Blame the big money, and front offices intent on protecting their investments. Blame a livelier ball. Blame the shrinking strike zone. Blame smaller parks. Blame the evolution of the game.

Shelton: Staying clean may be costing Fred McGriff in his bid for Hall of Fame

So 2002 is the cutoff point. Gee, I wonder what happened after that…

McGriff is a victim here. If all those players who took performance-enhancing drugs while he played were cheating baseball, McGriff may have lost the most. Together, all those crooks with the cartoon biceps and inflated statistics made his numbers look ordinary by comparison. They made 30 home runs look tiny. They made 100 RBIs look pedestrian. Their counterfeit accomplishments diminished McGriff, making him look less dangerous, less special. They stole from McGriff like an Internet swindler with your bank account number.

For many of us, it was impossible to watch the Hall of Fame inductions over the weekend without thinking of McGriff. Even now, you wonder: Had the steroid era never happened, if so many had not taken such shortcuts for so long, how would we think of McGriff today?

As a Hall of Famer? Maybe.

As a greater star than most remember? Almost certainly.

...You wonder: How much difference could performance-enhancers have made on a slender slugger such as McGriff?

“Maybe 100 home runs,” McGriff guessed. “I probably hit 100 balls to the warning track.”

Tigers’ Jim Leyland: Ump said I spit on him, but I didn’t

and no brown glemmy stainage showed on my handy mucus color chart either! So there!

And Leyland vehemently denied the accusation.

“He accused me of something I didn’t do and that pissed me off and that’s when I got going,” Leyland said after the Tigers’ 5-0 loss. “I had some sunflower seeds and when I was talking some sprayed on him and he indicated that I deliberately spit on him.

“I’m not going to take that from anybody. I’m not going to do it. I’m not going to take that kind of accusation from anybody. That’s a blatant lie.”

...“Did some of the sunflower seeds spray on his shirt? Yes they did, without any question,” Leyland said. “But I don’t even spit on the ground.

“And I’m not going to take that. I’m tired of protecting umpires. I’m tired of not being able to say anything. I’m defending myself. If you want to kick me out, that’s fine. I don’t care about that because it sprayed on his shirt, but when you start to accuse somebody of doing something you better be careful.”

If Major League Baseball reviews the incident and decides Leyland was at fault and issues a suspension, Leyland wouldn’t have much recourse since there isn’t an appeals process for managers.

“I don’t know what they’re going to do and I don’t give a (care),” Leyland said. “…I’m tired of it.”

GREAT GARZA!

Matt Garza knew there was something going on. He was pretty certain he’d allowed just the one baserunner, on a second-inning walk. And though the Rays dugout wasn’t overly quiet, it sure seemed to him like nobody had moved from where they were the previous inning.

“The ninth inning I roll out there,” Garza said, “I look up, and I go, ‘Oh, crap.’ “

The chance to throw a no-hitter Monday, the first in Rays history and the first in his career, was staring at him from the Tropicana Field scoreboard, just three outs away. And Garza, despite not feeling good physically or sharp mechanically all night, wisely decided, with a 5-0 lead against the Tigers, to stick with what had worked.

“I just told myself, well, we can go about this two ways — I can try not to get contact and get in trouble, or go at these guys and if it happens, it happens,” he said. “And if it doesn’t, I’ve got a guy that comes in in the ninth inning (closer Rafael Soriano) and shut the door for me.”

Thanks to Gleb

SI.com: Pearlman: Looking back, Kazmir-Zambrano trade wasn’t as awful as it seemed

It has been nearly six years to the day since Duquette, in his only season as New York’s GM, famously dealt his team’s top prospect, the 20-year-old Kazmir, to Tampa Bay for a pitcher who, in 2003, led the American League in walks, wild pitches and hit batsmen. Not that Zambrano didn’t have an upside. He threw hard, his fastball had some wicked movement and, at age 28, he was still in the prime of his career.

“The feeling is that we still have a chance (this year),” Duquette said at the time. “We’re still in the mix. Let’s go for it. With these guys added to the rotation [the Mets also acquired Kris Benson from Pittsburgh] we have a chance to win every night.”

The trade was a disaster.

At the time, New York was seven games behind Atlanta in the NL East standings and 7 1/2 back of San Diego for the wild card. It was a listless, heartless, ill-fitted collection of players. Mike Piazza missed 94 games the year before, 2003, which was an utter disaster (66-95) from the start as opposed to a season that eventually spiraled into hopelessness the way 2004 did. In 2004, Piazza was healthy but woefully miscast at first base. Jason Philips was the great bespectacled hope behind the plate, Kaz Matsui was butchering balls at shortstop, a person named Eric Valent somehow accumulated 270 at-bats and the overmatched Art Howe was managing. With or without two new starting pitchers, the Mets were wretched. They finished the year 71-91, a whopping 25 games behind Atlanta and 21 out of the wild card.

And…go.