To say that was a great game would be an injustice. 

It was an AMAZING game!

All the drama that came with the fact that it was Opening Day was overshadowed by the drama that came at the end of the game.

Sure, the smoke from all the pyro hung in the air all game long, but it was easy to see that this was a game to remember.

The guys were ready to play after the intros, and they sure played their hearts out. 

(Alas, I was able to get pictures from most of the game before my camera’s battery died!  Dang it!  And pardon the HIGH view, I decided to downgrade on tickets to upgrade the thickness of my wallet)

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The Pitching

You cannot complain about James Shields’ pitching performance.  It was his first outing of 2010, he had a wife who was abou to give birth…yeah, I would say that what he did Tuesday night is just fine.

        6 IP        3 R        9 H       2 BB

I know that the 1,83 WHIP and 4.50 ERA aren’t sexy, but he kept things from getting out of hand.  He gave up 3 home runs–but they were all solo shots–the perfect type of home run to give up. 

Kevin Millwood pitched well also, but he reached his 100-pitch limit much earlier than Shields did, going only 5 innings in his debut. 

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The Big Inning

Every game has an inning that affects the outcome.

I felt that the 9th inning was the inning that changed the course of this game.  But it was NOT the bottom of the frame, but the top.

Rafael Soriano’s laconic performance nearly cost the Rays the game.  He entered with the Rays trailing by 1 with the objective of keeping the deficit just that small.

It seemed he did all he could to fail at that objective.

If it were not for several great plays in the inning, the Rays certainly would not have been mobbing CC at home plate at the end of the game.

Soriano gave up a double to Garrett Atkins, a single to Cesar Izturis (was supposed to be a sacrifice bunt) and had a botched double play put runners at the corners with 1 out.

If Atkins scores, the game is probably over.

Instead, Evan Longoria saved the game with a great play to get Atkins at the plate. 

With two outs and runners in scoring position, Soriano got Miguel Tejada to scorch one right into Carl Crawford’s outstretched arm. 

And we want to trade this guy?  No CC means the Rays sit at 0-1 instead of 1-0.

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Longo Goes Long—OH!

(Ok, this pic is cool, isn’t it?  It is like Longo is Lording over everybody at the Trop)

My goodness, did that ball land yet?

  

I’ll admit, from my perspective in the nosebleeds it was tough to get an idea of how far the ball was going.  I knew it was gone, but how far it went was beyond me.  I was too busy celebrating to watch the ball land, anyway.

Turns out, it was the third longest dinger in Tropicana Field history.  It landed several rows up into the party deck! 

Holee Cow! 

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Carl’s Moment

I don’t want to belabor the amazing-ness that is Carl Crawford, but wow.

I thought it was incredible when he killed those Red Sox in 2003 with a line drive long ball in the bottom of the 9th to get an Opening Day win. 

But this was just as great.

Following his great catch in the top half of the 9th and an almost-walk-off from Kelly Shoppach, Carl delivered a great line drive into right field that secured the game.

Pandemonium, folks. 

I almost fell down the 596 stairs I had to climb to get to my seat. 

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3 Keys to a W

1–Shields’ Composure.     Check.  He gave up 3 dingers, yet no more than that.  Quality start. 

2–Get the Long Ball Workin’.     Check    Longo took one out–WAY out–and Shoppach’s almost dinger helped make the difference. 

3–The Rays Republic Must Represent.     Nope    Sorry Republic, I thought that the Trop was WAY too quiet all game long.  Of course, I was sitting in the Swiss Alps, so I might have missed some of the cheering.

Gotta get at least 2 of the 3 Keys in order to get a W.

So…

2 Keys Checked = Rays Win!

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Final Thoughts

I’m looking forward to this season even more.  The Rays were more than impressive Tuesday night, not only because of their offense and clutch hitting, but because of their resilience. 

That resilient spirit was what helped the Rays take the AL East in 2008.  Game after game was decided because the Rays refused to give up.

Can’t wait to see how Matty does tonight.