No more! Reid Brignac leads the team out of the void.

I am the new president of the Reid Brignac fan club. Photo courtesy of Stephanie.

I'll be the first to admit, I wasn't the biggest Reid Brignac fan. Every time he came up to the Rays, he seemed to be a non-factor. Many Rays fans chided me for not giving Reid a chance and dismissing him outright. But last night, the Durham Bulls shortstop truly made his major league debut.  Brignac went 4-4 with a homer, 2 doubles, a single and 3 RBI's. It was almost as if he willed the Rays out of their 11 game losing streak to an 8-4 victory of the Baltimore Orioles.

To be sure, the Baltimore Orioles are not in the same league as the Yankees and Red Sox. But, they're still a major league baseball team and in the first inning the Rays looked like they were still in the same funk that plagued them over the last 11 games. They got an early 1 run lead, but a combination of scoreboard and mental errors allowed Baltimore to jump to a 4-1 lead. The bottom of the 1st, the Rays looked like a team who hadn't won a game in a long time.

Then came Brignac. BJ Upton was on 1st, 2 outs.  The game very well could've hung on this at-bat and Brignac came through with a 2-run homer. And like that, the gates were open.  The Rays found their offense. They found their defense. And David Price found enough to keep putting up zeros on the O's.  The bullpen even found some of its groove with the combination of Dan Wheeler, Brian Shouse, and JP Howell getting the final 6 outs... a task that hasn't been easy for the Rays lately.

The Rays have had serious leadership issues since Carlos Pena got hurt.  It's one thing to step up and say you're embarrassed by the losing streak. It's another thing to go 4-4 and have a career game when given a rare start. And, for that, I must tip my hat to Mr. Reid Brignac. I hope you're able to play your way on to the opening day roster in 2010.

Morning Round-up: Easter Bunny Edition

The Easter Bunny came and went at my house. Hopefully, some of the Rays got some treats to help them hit better today. Getting swept by the Orioles this afternoon would definitely leave a bitter taste in everyone's mouth.

With that said, here's an Easter abbreviated version of the Morning Round-up. As usual, my comments are in italics:

- Baltimore Sun writer Dan Connolly had an easy story to file. All he had to do was describe the first inning and repeat the praises O's manager David Trembley dished out.  The first inning broke this game for the O's. Outside of that, it was pretty competitive. Too bad it wasn't that enjoyable to watch because of the scoreboard.  The Rays and James Shields need to figure out a way to shut down the first three in the O's lineup (Brian Roberts, Adam Jones, and Nick Markakis) this afternoon.

- Tampa Tribune writer Marc Lancaster breaks down the Rays line-up versus lefties this year compared to last years.  In 2 games, the Rays have had mixed results. Game 1 versus the Orioles looked eerily similar to games against journeyman lefties last year.  The Rays had all kinds of troubles against the most pedestrian of southpaws.  Thursday's game against the O's kept that alive, despite adding Burrell and Kaplar in the line-up.  Overall, I think the Rays will be alright, but it's cause for concern.

- The Rays Party Blog did a good job chronicling the Rays missed opportunities last night. They broke them down 1 through 7.  I'm still blaming the cold and I'm hoping this is just an aberration. But, this whole game looked like games the Rays struggled in last year.

Cold weather, colder bats doom Rays

Jeff Niemann's horrid first inning was all the Baltimore Orioles needed to win their second game in a row against the Rays.  The O's jumped on Niemann early, scoring 5 runs before he could even get an out including a grand slam by Melvin Mora.  After the 1st, Niemann settled down and the Rays gave up only one more run.  The only problem was they couldn't score any to chip away at the O's lead.  Once again leaving RISP is hurting the Rays offense. Maybe we can chalk it up to the cold weather, but the Rays need to start hitting.

Here are some other things in noticed:

• Ground rule doubles? What's the deal with the 4 ground rule doubles in a game? We're not talking about one part of the outfield, it was happening all over the place.  At least twice, Rays runners from 1st had to stop at third when they may have otherwise scored. Just for fun here's the e-how video definition of a ground rule double:

Definition of a Ground Rule Double in Baseball -- powered by eHow.com

• Longo's still swinging a big stick. He seems to be the only one hitting and the pitchers aren't even giving him much to hit.
• Oh, Rockies!!! Why didn't you take Niemann off of our hands instead of Hammell? That 1st inning was just awful.  It was very reminiscent of Ed "winless" Jackson starts. While Niemann was giving up 5 runs in the first. David Price pitched a few down in Durham and only gave up 2 runs.
• Pat Burrell's leash is getting short with me. I know he's a streaky hitter, but I'm ready to see a streak. He had a couple of chance tonight and couldn't come through.
• What is it with the O's and April? For the 2nd year in a row, they look like a real tough team. Of course, over a 162 game season the cream usually rises to the top, but their 1st 4 look more dangerous than the Red Sox 1st 4.

Morning Round-up: Ex-Rays edition

Many familiar faces in the other dug out for last night's series opening game against the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards.  Two of former Rays pitchers did their part to end the Rays 12-game domination of the O's.  In honor or Mark Hendrickson and Danys Baez... here's the morning round-up.

The Baltimore Sun talks about Hendrickson and the O's big victory last night.  A couple interesting tid bits out of this article. I didn't realize Hendrickson was 7-1 in April.  The other was that Hendrickson told Orioles manager Dave Trembley that he didn't have any more gas after the Carlos Pena single.  

Speaking of Hendrickson, the Sun's Toy Department blog (not sure the meaning behind this name) chronicle's Hendrickson basketball vs baseball decision in the 90's. Interesting read.  Hendrickson is actually doing something that Michael Jordan wished he could've done. Of course, I don't think MJ would trade his basketball success for Hendrickson's journeyman baseball career. Here's more on Jordan posterizing Hendrickson from the Palm Beach Post last year.

Marc Topkin of the Times pointed out all of the Rays miscues in last night's lost.  Rays need to tighten it up tonight.  Jump on Guthrie early and get to the bullpen again.  Restore the balance of power.

Friday Night = .500

In what seemed like a throwback to last year.  A journeyman left-handed pitcher handled the Rays lineup pretty well. Except for a 1st inning Evan Longoria, the Rays could muster nothing against former Ray Mark Hendrickson.  Then it all seemed to be coming together when the Orioles were forced to make a pitching change for Pat Burrell.  They go to Danys Baez... who not only strikes out Burrell but sits down 3 other Rays on strike outs.

Evan Longoria continued his early season hot streak with 2 homers. It just wasn't enough and the Rays lose 5-4. At some point, the Rays are going to have to figure out how to score some runs outside of the long ball.