Upcoming Series:
Texas Rangers vs. Tampa Bay Devil Rays
Tropicana Field, Tampa, Florida
:
Tampa Bay Devil Rays: 10-21, .323 (HM: 6-7), 5th AL East, -9.5
Texas Rangers: 18-13, .581 (RD: 6-6), 2nd AL West, -0.5
Season Series: 2-1, Texas
Pitching Matchups:
05/11: Glendon Rusch (1-3, 4.54) vs. Victor Zambrano (1-2, 6.63)
05/12: Kenny Rogers (6-1, 2.94) vs. Jeremi Gonzalez (3-2, 5.27)
05/13: Chan-Ho Park (1-3, 6.53) vs. Jeff Suppan (1-4, 6.69)
Series Preview:
The Rangers are making their only apperance in Tampa this season. With the departure of Alex Rodriguez, the Rangers have a new life and appear to be on the verge of rising out of a rebuilding mode and into serios playoff contender. Built much like the Devil Rays, with young positional players and little pitching depth, the validity of their playoff hopes rest on their ability to win the easy games against struggling teams. Kenny Rogers, who leads the league with 6 wins, will look to continue his resurgance at the age of 39.
The Devil Rays, on the other hand, are about one or two losing series away from packing it up for 2004 and selling off their veterans to playoff contenders. Jose Cruz's name has already began to create a buzz, and you can expect guys like Jeff Suppan, Tino Martinez, and Al Reyes to be valuable pieces of someone's puzzle.
Tampa Bay News: (05/06-05/10)
- 05/06:
-MR Ramiro Mendoza was put on waivers.
-MR Danys Baez was sent down to Triple-A Durham.
-MR Bartolome Fortunato was promoted from Triple-A Durham to the active roster.
-C Toby Hall was injured in a collision at home plate with adam Kennedy of the Anaheim Angels. Hall suffered a broken wrist and will miss the rest of the season.
- 05/07:
-MR John Halama was released.
-C Toby Hall was put on the 60 day DL.
-SP Jason Standridge was actived from the DL and assigned to Double-A Orlando.
-1B Greg Colbrunn was traded to the Florida Marlins in exchange for C Mike Redmond. Redmond was placed on the 40-man roster and assigned to the active roster.
-1B Garrett Atkins was put on the 40-man roster and promoted from Triple-A Durham to the active roster.
- 05/08:
-SP Jorge Sosa, of Triple-A Durham, strained a ligament in his elbow and will miss about one week of action.
-SP James Houser, of Single-A Bakersfield, was improved the bite on his pitches, increasing his movement.
Around the League: (05/06-05/10)
- 05/06:
-Tampa Bay C Toby Hall will be sidelined for the rest of the season after breaking his wrist in a collision at home plate.
-Anaheim RF Jason Tyner will be sidelined for 3 weeks are pulling his medial collateral ligament while running the bases.
-Cleveland 3B Lou Merloni was injured will in a bar fight. Merloni, who lost some teeth, will be day-to-day for 3 days.
- 05/07:
-Florida trades C Mike Redmond to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in exchange for 1B Greg Colbrunn.
-Baltimore SP Kurt Ainsworth will miss two weeks after pulling his rotator cuff miscle while pitching.
-Boston RF Trot Nixon has been listed as day-to-day after injurying himself while running. Doctors have diagnosed an inflamied hamstring muscle, which will take about 3 weeks to heal.
- 05/08:
-Los Angeles traded MR Eric Knott to Minnesota in exchange for RF Michael Ryan.
-Kansas City claimed 1B David Segui off waivers from Baltimore.
-San Francisco's Barry bonds hit the longest homerun of his career, a 503 ft. blast off of Cincinnati's Danny Graves.
- 05/09:
-Milwaukee claimed SP Pat Hentgen off waivers from Toronto.
- 05/10:
-Boston signed free agent MR John Halama to a one year contract worth $380,000.
-Florida released SP Aaron Sele.
-Kansas City released SP Kevin Appier.
-Chicago (N) released SP Sergio Mitre.
-American League Player of the Week: LF Manny Ramirez (BOS). He batted .476 in 21 AB, with 4 HR and 8 RBI.
-National League Player of the Week: LF Lance Berkman (HOU). He batted .571 in 21 AB, with 5 HR and 7 RBI.
American League East Standings: (05/11/2004)
Code:
Team W-L PCT GB Streak Last 10
New York 20-12 .625 - W1 6-4
Boston 18-16 .529 3.0 L2 5-5
Toronto 16-16 .500 4.0 L2 6-4
Baltimore 12-20 .375 8.0 W1 4-6
Tampa Bay 10-21 .323 9.5 L4 1-9