The Zorilla Strikes Again

Say this for Ben Zobrist, even after making the All-Star game, he's playing like a man possessed. Last night's game was a prime example of the "Zorilla" legend growing by leaps and bounds. Zorilla's 3-run homer in the fourth put the Blue Jays on notice that he was breaking out.  In the bottom of the ninth, you could just feel the bound up energy from Zorilla.  He knew he just had to get a hit and that's what he did. He took the pitch the other way... scoring Carl Crawford and calling for a team meeting at the plate.  Well done, Zorilla! 

Just to see how excited Rays fans got over Zorilla... check out the twitter search for Zorilla.  And if you're becoming a real big fan, Rays Index even sells some Zorilla shirts.

Here are some things I noticed about last night's 10-9 victory over the Blue Jays:

• Taking advantage of the down market and stealing home.  B.J. Upton and Tom Foley's plan to steal home on a pick-off attempt at 1st was absolutely brilliant and well-executed. I don't have a stopwatch around right now, but based on the video player's timer it took about 3 seconds for Upton to get home from when Brian Tallet started his throw to first. Beautiful. If you missed it, make sure you go to Tampabayrays.com and watch the highlight. Just how hard must it be to pitch with Bossman and CC on base at the same time?
  

• Scott Kazmir, the good and the bad.  Kazmir had his ups and downs last night.  At times, he looked brilliant. At other times, he  (4th) looked like he was regressing.  Jays manager Cito Gaston didn't have any love for Kaz's performance saying, "I don't know who was pitching worse... It was a race of who was going to get run out of there first." Ouch, Cito. Why don't you tell us what you really think?  The offense did bail Kazmir out, but the Rays are really going to need an effective Kaz down the stretch to make it back in this race.
  

• 3 for 36 last 10 games.  I'm not talking about Dioner Navaroo, I'm talking about the Rays All-Star 3rd baseman. Evan Longoria's average is dropping like a rock. He says he's feeling better now from the hamstring injury. I hope that's true.  A slumping Longo really hurts the Rays lineup.
  

• David Price versus Roy Halladay.  King David gets the chance to go up against one of the game's best this afternoon.  Let's see if he's up to the challenge.