Rays 1, Marlins 0
Record: 26-15
Attendance: 5,947
The Rays completed a two-game sweep of the Marlins, back-to-back shutouts that left Marlins' manager Don Mattingly wondering what he has to do to win a ball game as the Marlins fell to a major league worst 10-31. His pal Derek Jeter, Marlin CEO, can't be happy.
The Rays certainly are. On Friday they begin a three-game set against the Yankees in New York after these two warm-up games that left them 11 games over .500, matching their best record of the season so far.
Today's 1-0 win was tense of course, the Rays not exactly asserting themselves offensively, which is a credit to Marlin starter Jose Urena (six innings, one run) and three relievers (three innings, one hit and one walk). Their own shutout began with opener Ryne Stanek, bulker Jalen Beeks who got the win (3-0), and then the usual bullpen posse: Kolarek, Pagan, Alvarado, Roe, and Diego Castillo, who got the save, his fifth on the season.
The Rays one run, however, is the real story of the day. Anthony Bemboom, the nearly 30-year-old veteran minor-leaguer who was a surprise call-up for Sunday's game against the Yankees, got to see his second day of action. You might remember that the Rays sent Nick Ciuffo down to Durham and chose Bemboom to replace him as backup for newly acquired primary catcher, Travis d'Arnaud. You might also remember that d'Arnaud himself was a rush trade pick-up from the Dodgers because Mike Zunino and Michael Perez, the team's primary catchers for the first two months of the season, went on the IL within 24 hours of each other last week. (d'Arnaud, by the way, known as "lil d," according to the Tampa Bay Times, also plays second and third base. He's the perfect Ray. It makes you wonder why it took so long for them to find each other.)
The Rays have never had much luck at the catcher position, probably karma for having bypassed C Buster Posey when they had the first overall pick in the 2008 draft and took instead SS Tim Beckham. All Posey did was become an MVP, win Rookie of the Year honors, appear on five All-Star teams, and win three World Series titles. Beckham has bounced around, a journeyman infielder with a flair for bad base running.
So Anthony Bemboom got the call against the Marlins today. In the second inning, he lashed a ball to deep right center that bounced against the wall for a double, driving in Willy Adames. It was Bemboom's first major league hit and RBI. He followed that up with a single, 2 for 2 with the game-winning hit. But in the fifth, he had to lunge to his left, a play every catcher makes multiple times in a game, but this time his left knee twisted the wrong way, and according to Manager Kevin Cash, he too is heading to the IL. No official word on his status yet, but the Catcher Curse remains alive and well in St. Petersburg.
Meantime, the Rays had better figure out how to hit with the Yankees half a game behind and closing fast.
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