Seventh inning wretch

For the 2nd game in a row the Rays completely folded in the 7th inning, allowing the last place Oakland A's a chance to win the series and the season series.  In the 2nd half, the Rays are going to have to do much better against the teams they're supposed to beat.  Joe Maddon's going to have to figure out a way to get the guys motivated to play teams like the A's.  For some reason, they seemed to have packed it in the last couple of days.

The good news: The All-Star break is here.  This year, there's plenty to watch with 5 Rays going to St. Louis.  Carlos Pena will even get to do the home run derby.  Fun stuff.

Here are some things I noticed in the Rays 7-3 loss:

• Big Game James gets some runs but still can't get the win.  Much has been made of Shields' lack of run support in the 1st half of this year.  Yesterday, Pat Burrell helped 6th inning charge to get him 3 runs.  However, he couldn't close the door on the 7th.  Shields needed a shut down inning and couldn't get it. Then the bullpen finished the job for him. Shields said after the game that he needs to fix the fact that the Rays are losing when he's pitching.  That may be a job for the entire team.
  

• Pat Burrell getting streaky.  Pat the Bat arrives at the All-Star break, just as his bat starts heating up. If he can keep it going in the 2nd half, expect the Rays offense to go to another stratosphere.
  

• 4-2 home stand.  I get the feeling the Rays really missed an opportunity during this homestand. Sweeping the Blue Jays really gave them some momentum going into the A's series.  Instead, that momentum is deflated in 2 straight late losses to the A's.  4-2 is acceptable, but it would've been real nice to go 5-1 or 6-0 on the stand, considering they swept the Jays.
  

• 2008 vs 2009.  The Rays have played a few less games this year before the All-Star break and are sporting a 48-41 record.  After 89 games last year, they were 55-34.  So, they're 7 games behind last year's pace.  One thing to consider, game 89 was the 2nd game of that infamous 7 game losing streaking heading into the All-Star break. The 2009 Rays can do some catching up right out of the gate.