Have we seen the last of Carlos Pena in a Rays uniform?

Is that it for 'Los? That was the first thought I had when I got word that Carlos Pena may be lost for the season. My mind imediately drifted to a time when his smiling face may not be the starting first baseman for the Rays.

Now, don't get me wrong. I don't want to see Carlos gone. I don't want to see the team trim payroll at the expense of decent Rays. But if recent history has taught us anything, the Rays are a cold and calculating organization. They're going to run the numbers and come up with a formula. That formula will be the deciding factor on whether the Rays keep Pena or send him packing.

Time will tell. I'd like to think that the Rays front office takes more into consideration that just the numbers. But, if not, we very well could've seen the last of Carlos Pena in a Rays uniform.

Morning Round-up: Kazmanian Devil Edition

Here are some thoughts about the Rays victory over the Red Sox last night.  As always, my comments are in italics:

- The Boston Herald ran a poll: What was the Red Sox' problem of the game on Wednesday? As of this morning, it's split pretty evenly between poor Red Sox pitching (39%) and Tampa Bay's pitching was too good (41%). As much as I like to hate on the Red Sox, I have to give their fans credit for really knowing the game. Even the most die hard, chowdah-head can acknowledge a great performance by the Kazmanian Devil. 

- Herald columnist Steve Buckley tries to calm Red Sox Nation down with this column: Two sides to this loss.  I like the guy's optimism. He breaks down the fifth inning and tries to absolve Lester a little bit.  But, no matter how you slice it, Lester's walk of Kapler and Pena's home run ball both fall squarely on Lester's shoulders. You can nit pick all you want about what happened in between.

- Boston Globe writer Adam Kilgore wrote this nice description of the Pena's homer:

Lester tried to sneak a cutter past Peña. "He pretty [well] knows what's coming," Lester said. "We're not going to screw around with him there. Threw it middle, middle" - over the plate's heart and at Peña's belt. Peña unleashed a vicious swing and then posed for a moment, sending the ball through the pitch-black night and into the first row above the triangle. A taut game had suddenly become a 5-1 beating.

That speaks for itself!

Kaz is back! Rays win 1st game of the season.

It seems like it was just a year ago when the Rays couldn't buy a game at Fenway. Now, it seems like they just go up there and take a workman's approach to grinding out a win against the Red Sox in their own crib.  Scott Kazmir looked like the ace from 2007.  He easily out dueled Jon Lester giving up 5 hits with only 2 of them being legitimate.  It was nice to see him go without worrying about pitch count from the 2nd inning on.

On the offensive side of the ball, a little small ball and a little long ball was all the Rays need to keep the Sox at bay and win their first game of the 2009 season.  Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria both went deep.  The Aki/Bartlett show proved once again the genius that is Joe Maddon.

Full Story:

MLB.com

Here are some of my post-game observations:

• Scott Kazmir is the ace of this team. If you had any doubts, tonight's performance shows it. He went into hostile territory and put the game on his shoulders.  It seemed like he wasn't pressing as much for strikeouts tonight as he was last year.  That's a good sign. Get the outs and the "K's" will come.

• Carlos Pena's 2 out home run was huge for a number reasons.  It knocked Lester out of the game (more on that later), it took almost all the energy out of Fenway and the Sox, it got Pena out of his 0-6 slump to start the season, and it pretty much put the game out of the Red Sox reach.

• Maddon continues to show his managing genius.  The safety squeeze to score Kapler in the 5th was a perfect way to really get that rally going.  But, it was the hit and run with Kapler on 1st and Aki at the plate that was key to that inning.  Aki was able to punch the ball into left field in the spot Jed Lowrie had just vacated to cover 2nd.  Great way to manage base runners in a game where runs could be at a premium.

• On the other side, Francona's decision to keep Lester in to face Pena came back to haunt him.  I can see the reasons why Francona wanted to keep Lester in, but he probably should've pulled the plug.  It just goes to show that Francona's still concerned about early middle relief against the Rays lineup (their achilles heal last year). 

• The Red Sox/Rays match-up is still one of the best in baseball right now.  These teams have truly become rivals over the past year.  It's good to see that the Rays didn't forget how to win at Fenway over the winter.

Rays lose opener. Top of 6th sums up game

You can't ask for a better situation in a baseball game.  Second and third, nobody out, and your 3-4-5 batters coming to the plate. That was the situation the Rays found themselves in the sixth inning on opening day. Down 4-1 against Red Sox ace Josh Beckett, the Rays finally seemed to be getting through.  Aki Iwamura walked and Carl Crawford followed that up with a double.

Now, it was time to get to work. This was the chance the Rays had been looking for all day.  This is the chance you have to jump on when you're playing the Red Sox at Fenway. But, it wasn't to be: a fly out to the catcher, a strikeout, and grounder to third ended the Rays chances to get to Beckett.

Look, I'm not asking for much. While I would've loved to see Evan Longoria, Carlos Pena, or Pat Burrell go yard, I would've been happy with just a sacrifice fly.  Instead, the meat of the order meekly gives in to Beckett and gives the Red Sox the opening day win.

The Rays 3-4-5 batters looked horrible today. At least Longo came up with a 2 RBI hit in the 8th to make it closer.  Pena didn't even sniff a hit... striking out all 4 times.  As for Burrell, we'll give him a pass today because he was playing in his first game in the American league battling a tough righty. My biggest concern is Pena. He's going up against a lefty tomorrow in Jon Lester that could give him all kinds of problems.  Just make contact, Carlos!

Other things I noticed

• The umpire was a little friendly on the outside calls against the Rays.

• The bullpen did an admirable job in relief of James Shields. It was good to get our first look at Cormier and Nelson.

• Matt Joyce didn't impress me too much at the plate today.

• The Rays don't play well in chilly weather.  I wonder if Shields first inning would've been different in a warmer environment.

• I'm looking for the Kaz of old tomorrow. If the bats come through, we could get a W.