Game 98: Rays 4, Indians 2
Reid Brignac homered off Justin Masterson in the second, and those three runs would be enough for Tampa, thanks to Wade Davis and poor Cleveland approaches at the plate. Masterson pitched into the seventh, keeping his team in the game, but his teammates could only turn their eleven hits into two runs. To be honest, the final margin could have been much more if not for several blunders by Rays baserunners; Matt Joyce for some reason stayed at third on a grounder to first base with nobody out, and the Indians turned a double play as he watched.
The Indians had opportunities to tie the game in the seventh and eighth innings. In both innings they had runners at second and third with two outs and potent hitters at the plate, but Tampa's relievers lived up to their reputation, ending the innings without any damage. Tampa's pitching staff is good and deep; the only thing they really need is another bat in the middle of their order to go with Crawford, Longoria, and Pena.

| Highest WPA | Lowest WPA | ||
| Travis Hafner | .256 | Michael Brantley | -.180 |
| Chris Perez | .018 | Matt LaPorta | -.139 |
| Rafael Perez | .016 | Carlos Santana | -.134 |
0 recs |
21 comments
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Comments
Anderson Hernandez Person has opened his Astros career with a bang, starting 0/5 with no walks.
Must not be here for baseball either. Because that isn't what we're playing.
SNAP. I didn’t think of that. In the end, Brown and Hodges are the same to me in that they can both go and I won’t blink an eye, but I guess, given this development, Hodges matters less. I wasn’t sure he should have been rostered to begin with, but I can’t think of anyone who deserved it more than him (Pino, eh).
I didn’t watch, but for some reason that Andy Marte K with guys on 2nd and 3rd and one out, hit me as very very sad.
That was a tough five minutes for Andy, since he followed up his poor hitting with a fielding error on the first Rays at bat. I keep telling myself that smart people think he’s got a possible future as a utility guy but then there are moments like that at bat, which is a complete buzz kill.
by MTF on Jul 26, 2010 10:30 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
For the archives, Ryan, typo leading off paragraph 2.
Though I look right at home, I still feel like an exile
by Manhattan Tribe Fan on Jul 25, 2010 11:18 PM EDT reply actions
It’s possible the recap can end up with more comments than the actual game thread. Is that as rare as I think it is?
What are the odds we will ever again see a WPA chart with Pronk listed as the best and Carlos as the weakest contributer?
by MTF on Jul 26, 2010 10:33 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Sorry- misread the chart: Santana is one of the weakest contributers, not the weakest. In any event, the future will be different, I’d wager.
by MTF on Jul 26, 2010 10:36 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
The odds actually are very good that that will happen again, more than once. They’re going to play in a lot of games together.
Implying optimism on your part for Hafner. Good.
by MTF on Jul 26, 2010 10:51 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
No, implying that there is an enormous amount of variability in single-game box score lines, and even more in single-game WPA totals.
Ah, so, sample size again. I need to remember that.
by MTF on Jul 26, 2010 12:01 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

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