Zobrist leaves game with lower back tightness

Date: Wed, Jul 28, 2010

Update 8:45 p.m. Rays say BenZobrist left the game due to lower back stiffness and is "day-to-day."

Developing:Sean Rodriguez has replaced BenZobrist in centerfield to start the fourth inning against the Tigers.

There has been no update from the Rays yet on why Zobrist left the game.

The Rays are already without CF B.J.Upton, who sprained his left ankle in Tuesday's game. He's expected to be out until at least Saturday or Sunday.

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Yankees games close to sellouts

Date: Wed, Jul 28, 2010

From the Rays: Fewer than 1,000 tickets remain for each of the three games this weekend against the Yankees.

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Rays vs. Tigers, looking for another

Date: Wed, Jul 28, 2010

UPDATE, 5:17: Manager Joe Maddon said Upton was feeling better and is targeted to return to the lineup Saturday or Sunday, with the possibility he could be used as a pinch-hitter before then. ... Maddon also said he met with executive VPAndrew Friedman today and there was "nothing new" on the trade front.

DEVELOPING:The Rays are getting ready - thankfully under the roof as the rain comes down and the thunder booms outside - to play Game 3 of the four-game set with the Tigers, and will do so, as expected, without B.J. Upton, who left Tuesday's game with a left ankle sprain.

The Tigers will be without manager Jim Leyland, who was suspended one game for his "inappropriate and aggressive conduct"during Monday'sgame, when he sprayed umpire Marty Foster with sunflower seeds during an argument.

The Rays also may be looking at the trade market differently with multiple reports Wednesday that the Phillies are no longer looking to deal RFJayson Werth as CFShane Victorino went on the DL. Werth was considered one of the hitters the Rays were interested in, and the price, and competition, for the others, such as Washington's Josh Willingham and Baltimore's Luke Scott, may suddenly increase with Werth off the market.

The Rays lineup will look like this:

Zobrist cf
Crawford lf
Longoria 3b
Pena 1b
Joyce rf
Aybar dh
Jaso c
Brignac 2b
Bartlett ss
Niemann p

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Morning after video: Longoria on final play

Date: Wed, Jul 28, 2010

Rays 3B Evan Longoria talks about what went into making the walkoff double play that ended Tuesday's game - what he was thinking and how he did what he did.

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Rays win 3-2

Date: Tue, Jul 27, 2010

The Rays pulled out a tense 3-2 win over the Tigers on Tuesday, sealing the game when Rafael Soriano got Detroit Triple Crown threat Miguel Cabrera to ground into a double play, started by Evan Longoria, turned by Reid Brignac and finished by Carlos Pena.

James Shields got the win, his first at home since April 28. The Rays improved to 61-38.

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Upton out with left ankle sprain, should miss only 2-3 days at most

Date: Tue, Jul 27, 2010

UPDATE, 10:47: Upton should miss only 2-3 days at most, he and manager Maddon say.

UPDATE, 7:34: News from the Rays isn't bad - theysay Upton left with the game with a left ankle sprain and is day to day.

DEVELOPING:CF B.J. Upton left the game after goingdownin pain with what appeared to be a left ankle injury in first inning.

Upton walked off under his own power after being attended to by head athletic trainer Ron Porterfield.

It appeared from the way Uptonreacted as Will Rhymes' liner bounced in front of him that his cleat caught in the turf.

Ben Zobrist went from second base to centerfield, and Reid Brignac came in to play second.

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Kids say the darnedest things, and other Garza reaction

Date: Tue, Jul 27, 2010

RHPMatt Garza went for a few drinks with teammates to celebrate after Monday's no-hitter, and got a slew of phone messages, but he said it wasn't until he got home and relaxed with the TVon that it hit him what he had accomplished. "Out of nowhere,'' he said, "I just went, "Ithrew a no-hitter.' Iwas pumped, and just had a big sigh of relief.''

Well that, and the phone call to speak with his wife (who was so upset about missing the game she was crying) and kids,who were back in California, especially his 8-year-old son Matthew.

"My son is the funniest kid ever,'' Garza said. "When I threw against the Marlins, he told me, "Man, dad, you suck - one inning, seven runs. Icould do that.' ... I call him last night and I said, "Matthew, did you watch the game?" He's like yea. I said, "Nine innings, no hits. Who sucks now?"And he goes, "You're still not an All-Star."

"He's a chip off the old block. It was good though. He's a competitor, and that's the way I like it. He keeps you grounded. He's like,you're not the best yet.So don't start floatingaway yet.I think that was the coolest thing, because for me it's him getting into baseball and watching it.''

Garza got the game ball - courtesy of RFBen Zobrist, who caught the final out - and the lineup card from manager Joe Maddon, all being put into a display case by home clubhouse/equipment manager Chris Westmoreland. The Hall of Fame has asked for his cap and a ball from the game. And commissioner Bud Selig has sent a letter of congratulations that will be presented on Wednesday.

Garza, who kept insisting grand slam-hitting Matt Joyce was the true hero of the night,said he doesn't plan to keep anything else from the historic night:"Just the memory.''

Garza said he hadn't yet been contacted to make any celebrity appearances - like on David Letterman'sshow -but was more focused on preparing for Saturday'sstart against the Yankees.

Heeventually had to turn off his iPhone on Monday night because of thevolume of messages: "Ithink my phone is still buzzing. Ihad to turn it off last night, the iPhone was overwhelmed. Turn off and reboot it, and it was still buzzing. A lot of people back home were real proud, a lot of people watched every pitch. And they were just as excited as I was.''

Garza's wife and three kids went home to northern California for the All-Star break and long post-break trip, though Serina was planning to return to Tampa Bay on Tuesday while the kids were to gocamping with Garza's parents. "(Serina) was upset, she said don't talk about it 'til she gets here today,'' Garza said. "She was crying last night, she was pissed that she wasn't here. I was a little upset too that she wasn't here, but hopefully I can do it again.''

Garza said when he got home last night some neighbors had taped balloons to his front door.

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Rays vs. Tigers, seeking an encore

Date: Tue, Jul 27, 2010

UPDATE: Rays lineup:
Zobrist 2b
Crawford lf
Longoria 3b
Pena 1b
Joyce rf
Aybar dh
Jaso c
Upton cf
Bartlett ss
Shields p

DEVELOPING:

It will be hard to top Monday night's dramatics as the Rays and Tigers prepare for the second game of the four-game series at Tropicana Field on Tuesday. James Shields will be on the mound for the Rays, seeking his first home win since April 28.

The Tigers lineup has been posted, and it looks like this:
Jackson cf
Rhymes 2b
Damon dh
Cabrera 1b
Boesch rf
Raburn lf
Avila c
Sizemore 3b
Santiago ss
Verlander p

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Tickets from Garza game available

Date: Tue, Jul 27, 2010

The Rays just announced a way to get an unused ticket from Matt Garza's Monday no-hitter: Fans attending Maddon’s Summer Social at Tropicana Field on August 15 will receive a game ticket from last night’s no-hitter. To purchase tickets to the event, fans should go to raysbaseball.com. The social is part of the Rays broadcast auction that benefits the Rays Baseball Foundation.

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Some Garza tidbits ....

Date: Tue, Jul 27, 2010

Here's a series of odds and ends about the Garza no-hitter compiled by ESPN's Stats &Info crew:

*Matt Garza throws the first no-hitter in Rays history (leaving the Mets and Padres as the only active MLB franchises without a no-hitter) and the fifth no-hitter in MLB this season. The five no-hitters are the most in a season since 1991, when there were an all-time record seven no-nos.

* Garza faced the minimum 27 batters, becoming the sixth pitcher since 1954 to throw a no-hitter (not a perfect game) while facing the minimum.

* Garza had previously thrown a one-hitter in 2008, when he took a no-hitter into the seventh inning before losing it on a solo home run to Hanley Ramirez.

* Garza is the first-ever pitcher named Matt to throw a no-hitter.

* This is the first no-hitter ever thrown on July 26 of a season.

* The Tigers were no-hit for the first time since June 1990, when Randy Johnson (then a Mariner) did it to them. Their 19-year streak since then had been the longest no-hit streak among AL teams until Garza snapped it.

* Home plate ump Ed Hickox had never had the plate for a no-hitter.

* This was the second no-hitter at Tropicana Field this year; Qualcomm Stadium in 2001 was the last ballpark to host two no-hitters.

*The Tropicana Field crowd of 17,009 was the fifth lowest for a no-hitter going back to 1995, though second smallest this season as only 12,228 saw Dallas Braden's perfect game against the Rays on May 9 in Oakland.

*How Rays starter Matt Garza no-hit the Tigers:
Challenged hitters:
- 82.5 pct fastballs (most in a start this season)
- 73.9 pct fastballs (season high) and 10.9 pct curveballs (season low) in 2-strike counts
- 49.5 pct of fastballs up in the zone (42.9 pct in starts entering Monday)
- 44.2 pct of pitches up in the zone (2nd-most in a start this season)
- 8 swings-and-misses up in the zone, 7 of them with his fastball (both season highs)
- 5 of those misses came on fastballs out of the zone (most in a start this season; had just 7 in his last 7 starts combined)
- Hitters chased 35.7 pct of fastballs up out of the strike zone (25.0 pct in starts entering Monday)

* And from the Elias Sports Bureau:

-The last team to be on the winning side of a no-hitter with as few as three hits: The 1988 Reds had three in a 1-0 win over the Dodgers in Tom Browning's perfect game.

-The Rays became the most recent team to be no-hit and throw a no-hitter in the same season; it happened three times in 1991, to the Orioles, White Sox and Expos.

-The Rays are the third team to be involved in three no-hitters in a single season. The other two are the 1917 White Sox and the 1917 Browns (all three of those games were between the White Sox and Browns).

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Instant replay: Sun Sports to show Garza no-hitter at noon

Date: Tue, Jul 27, 2010

Sun Sports will show a replay of Matt Garza's no-hitter at noon today, expanding the usual condensed 2-hour replay to the full 3 hours.

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Morning after video: Garza on no-hitter

Date: Tue, Jul 27, 2010

Rays pitcher Matt Garza talks about his franchise-first no-hitter, and below is the tail end of the celebration in the clubhouse.

And more ....

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Garza has Rays first no-hitter

Date: Mon, Jul 26, 2010

Rays pitcher Matt Garza threw the first no-hitter in franchise history on Monday, blanking the Detroit Tigers.

Garza gotpinch-hitter Ramon Santiago to fly out to right for the final out. Ben Zobrist squeezed the final out, and the Rays surrounded Garza for a playoffs-clinching worthy celebration. The Rays won the game 5-0.

No Ray had thrown more than 7 2/3 innings of no-hit ball previously, Tony Saunders in 1999 and Dewon Brazelton in 2004.

Garza faced the minimum 27 hitters, with several excellent defensive plays behind him. 3BEvan Longoria started a double play to erase the one runner Garza allowed, a second-inning walk to Brennan Boesch. Zobrist made a tremendous running catch to end the third, and CFB.J. Upton ran down several deep drives in center.

The Rays had been on the wrong end of two hitters this season, by Oakland's Dallas Braden, a perfect game, and by ex-Ray Edwin Jackonm who had been traded for Matt Joyce, who hit a grand slam on Monday.

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Garza has no-no thru 8, Joyce has grand slam

Date: Mon, Jul 26, 2010

UPDATE, 9:36:Garza has a no-hitter through 8 innings, deepest any Ray has ever gone. DewonBrazelton and Tony Saunders each went 7 2/ 3.

UPDATE, 9:18:Matt Garza has a no-hitter through seven innings, having faced the minimum 21 hitters.

UPDATE, 9:03: The Rays got their first hit of the night in grand style, a grand slam with two outs in the 6th by ex-Tiger Matt Joyce, in his first game against his ex-mates. That after Zobrist walked with one out, Crawford reached on catchers' interference, Longoria walked and Pena struck out. Matt Garza still has a no-hitter through six innings.

UPDATE, 8:42: Garza has his no-no through six.

DEVELOPING:Through five innings, neitherRays starter Matt Garza norTigers starter Max Scherzer have allowed a hit.

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