Rays Round up: It's gonna be a long night edition

Today begins the dreaded "West Coast" trip. For those of us who are glued to the Rays every night, it means late nights and less sleep.  I find myself rooting for 2 1/2 hour pitching duels on these nights.  I'm also less likely to stick around for a blowout either way.  I believe whoever invented the DVR did it for nights like this.  Because before DVR's, we were stuck wading through some of the crap on SportsCenter to see what our team did in the middle of the night.

Here's today's Rays Round-up. As always, my comments are in italics.

Larry Stone from the Seattle Mariners asks What will the Rays do for an encore? Very good read. It gives an excellent perspective of the Rays from the outside looking in.  The Mariners (and many other American League teams) are trying to become "this year's Rays." He also points out how difficult it is for teams, like the Rays, to recapture magic from one season to the next.  

Joe Smith from the Times points out that the Rays bench must play key role if team is to succeed. The Gabes, Zobrist, Aybar and others who may still be in AAA will have to once again step up in key situations. 

An off-day debate popped up on Rays Index over Maddon's aggressive defensive alignments. I'm going to continue with my take that he's getting a little too cute. But, if they start winning, I'll probably forget about defensive shifts.

Rays Party takes a look at 2 former Rays pitchers: Edwin Jackson and Jason Hammel.  I know plenty of Rays fans who think trading Edwin "less" Jackson was a mistake.  I think that they'll change their mind once Matt Joyce gets going.

Rise of the Rays breaks down some of the Rays batters against Mariners pitcher Jarrod Washburn. 11-3 record versus the Rays. Uh oh.

Maybe the Rays could use this guy.  Patrick Schuster of Mitchell High in Trinity became the first high school pitcher in Florida to toss four consecutive no-hitters. He struck out 17 in a 5-0 victory. He's signed to play with the University of Florida, but maybe the Rays will give him a look!?