The Rays battled the Rangers to the bitter end today before falling just a tad short. Sean Rodriguez tried to will the Rays to win this game as he was 1 for 2 with 2 walks, a double and 3 runs scored. He ran over Mike Napoli to score one of the runs today as he was giving 120% the whole day. Casey Kotchman (2 for 4 with 2 RBIs) and Matt Joyce (1 for 4 with a double and a RBI) also pitched in with the bats for the Rays today, but that was about it. Jeremy Hellickson got the start and the loss today, as he didn’t pitch too well. Hellickson pitched 4 innings for the Rays in this game and he gave up 4 hits, walked 1 batter, whiffed 1 batter and he gave up 3 runs (all earned) on 3 homers. Rookie lefty Matt Moore followed Hellickson in the game and he worked 3 solid innings allowing only 1 hit (a Beltre homer), 1 run (earned), walked 1 batter and he whiffed 2. Joel Peralta and Wade Davis combined for 2 shutout innings for the Rays today. The Rays were beat in this series 3-1 by the Rangers, as the season is now over for them.

Desmond Jennings, B.J. Upton and Kelly Shoppach are leading the way with the bats for the Rays so far in this series. Desmond Jennings has lit the fire at the top of the lineup. He has played in all 3 games for the Rays in this series and he is 4 for 11 (.364 avg, 1.462 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 1 double, 2 homers and 2 RBIs. Jennings is also playing really well defensively in LF. B.J. Upton has also been ripping the baseball in this series. He has played in all 3 games against the Rangers and he is 4 for 10 (.400 avg, 1.271 OPS) with 3 doubles and 3 runs scored. Upton is only 1 for 3 in stealing bases and that has hurt the Rays a little bit. Kelly Shoppach only hit .176 for the Rays during the regular season, but he is ripping the ball in this series. He has played in all 3 games for the Rays in this series and he is 3 for 7 (.429 avg, 1.786 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 2 homers and 6 RBIs. Shoppach needs to be playing all of the time right now instead of sharing time with John Jaso.

Things were looking very good for the Rays last night with two outs in the top of the 7th inning and that’s when the roof caved in on them. David Price was rolling along with a shutout until he faced Mike Napoli who drilled a two-run homer to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead. Price then left the game with a runner on first base. Brandon Gomes followed him into the game and he walked the only two batters he faced to load up the bases. J.P. Howell was then summoned to pitch to Josh Hamilton and he gave up a 2-run single to give the Rangers a 4-1 lead. Juan Cruz and Joel Peralta combined to work the last 2 1/3 innings without giving up any runs to give the Rays a shot to come back, which they almost did.

The offense didn’t do much yesterday outside of Desmond Jennings. Jennings was 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored, 2 homers and 2 RBIs in this game. Johnny Damon (1 for 4 with 1 run) and Sean Rodriguez (1 for 2 with a RBI) also helped out offensively for the Rays in this game. The Rays are now down 2-1 in this series, with a do or die game against the Rangers at Tropicana Field later today.

James Shields sure wasn’t “Big Game James” last night. He worked the first five innings last night against the Rangers and he gave up 8 hits and 7 earned runs, while walking no one and whiffing 6. Shields was the losing pitcher for the Rays. Juan Cruz worked 2/3 of an inning and he gave up a hit (and a couple of runs for Shields), no runs (for himself), while walking a batter and whiffing 1. Brandon Gomes gave up a solo homer to Mitch Moreland in the seventh inning, to give the Rangers a 8-6 lead. The bad thing for the Rays is that they wasted a pretty good night for the hitters. B.J. Upton was outstanding in this game for the Rays as he was 3 for 4 with a walk, a double and 2 runs scored. Evan Longoria was 1 for 4 with a 3-run homer in the 7th inning, to cut the Rangers’ lead to 7-6. Matt Joyce was 1 for 4 with a 2-run homer off of Derek Holland (a lefty). The Rays are now tied 1-1 in this series as it shifts to Tropicana Field tomorrow afternoon.

Manager Joe Maddon and pitching coach Jim Hickey looked like geniuses last night in going with rookie lefty Matt Moore as the starting pitcher last night. He dominated the Rangers’ lineup and made them look like little leaguers. Moore was the winning pitcher for the Rays as he worked the first seven innings, only giving up 2 hits, 2 walks and whiffing 6 batters! Brandon Gomes (2 whiffs) and Wade Davis each pitched a scoreless inning in this game to finish this game up. Catcher Kelly Shoppach was a very unlikely hero with the bat for the Rays last night. Shoppach only hit .176 in 87 games for the Rays in 2011 during the regular season. That didn’t matter last night with a clean slate as Shoppach went 3 for 5 with 3 runs scored, 2 homers and 5 RBIs! Johnny Damon also stepped up like the Rays thought he would as he was 2 for 5 with 2 runs scored, 1 homer and 3 RBIs. Ben Zobrist (1 for 4, with 2 runs scored), B.J. Upton (1 for 4, with 1 run scored, 1 double and 1 walk) and Matt Joyce (1 for 4 with 1 RBI) also pitched in offensively for the Rays last night. The Rays are now up 1-0 in this series with Game #2 tonight.