Ready for more ... Upton update

The Rays are looking for their third straight win as the face the White Sox - and ex-Ray Toby Hall - open a four-game series at the Trop. Josh Wilson gets a second straight start at second base, giving IF Ty Wigginton a day off from the field.

Rays manager Joe Maddon also said that it is possible B.J. Upton could return to the team for the end of the Cleveland series this weekend. Maddon said Upton will likely report for a local rehab assignment for Class-A Vero Beach, which plays at Tampa, on Wednesday, participate in pregame that day and play 2B on Thursday. From there, the team will treat Upton on a day-by-day basis.

The lineup:
Iwamura, 3b
Harris, ss
Crawford, lf
Wigginton, dh
Young, cf
Gomes, rf
Pena, 1b
Navarro, c
Wilson, 2b

Comments

[Jon Roberts]

Someone needs to teach these kids how to play baseball. There was no reason for Delmon Young not to score from third in the bottom of the 7th on the fly to right. Make that mediocre right fielder throw you out. In the bottom of the 8th, 3-2 count, there was no way the pitcher was going to walk the tying run, so Gomes needs to swing away at the pitch. Instead he takes a called 3rd strike. In the 9th, Pena goes sliding into 1st base. Anyone with half a brain knows you don't slide into any base unless you are trying to avoid a tag or stop. In any event sliding slows you down, so sliding into first is nothing short of terribly stupid baseball. Carl Crawford could be a .400 hitter and a hall of famer if he would learn how to bunt for base hits and learn how to run the bases. He should have no less than 80 steals per season. For whatever reason it seems these kids (and in some cases they're not kids anymore) are trying to figure this game out as they go along, and it results in them giving up 29-30 outs and extra bases every game on the defensive side by throwing to the wrong base or misplaying balls, and on the offensive end they run into outs and don't take extra bases when they should. It's frustrating to watch, because they have the talent, but the fundamentals and the basics of the game are completely missing. Unless they find hall of fame pitching they have no chance. I want to root for them, but they play some of the worst baseball I have ever seen. When I was in little league we would be fetching endless laps for the ridiculous mental errors the Rays make on a daily basis. Please, someone do something!

[Kris]

Jon needs to relax

[Jon Roberts]

No, the Rays need to learn how to play baseball. Until they do, they will be a losing team. But with the Bucs being the only team in town that anyone cares about, losing is just part of the program for you sports fans. Thus the Rays' losing ways and playing bad baseball to ensure it are just par for the course. I've lived in over 32 cities in the US with professional sports franchises, and Tampa Bay fans are without question the least educated and the biggest front runners anywhere. No one will truly care about the Rays until they win a championship, and they will never win anything playing the way they play. Good pitching beats good hitting, as the saying goes, but bad baseball loses every time.