Marc Topkin, Times Staff Writer
Marc Topkin has covered baseball for the Times since 1987 — from the lengthy effort to secure a team, to the awarding of the Tampa Bay franchise in 1995, and through each of the Rays seasons starting in 1998. He has traveled throughout the United States with the team, as well as to Canada, Venezuela, Mexico and Japan, and has covered All-Star Games and the World Series, as well as Super Bowls and the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.
Phone: (727) 893-8801
Email: topkin@tampabay.com
Blog: The Heater
Twitter: @TBTimes_Rays
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Rays routed by Yankees
05/24/13 The HeaterST. PETERSBURG — Roberto Hernandez had another bad start for the Rays on Friday in a 9-4 loss to the Yankees.
Bad enough that he got pulled after giving up five runs in four innings with manager Joe Maddon saying, "If we left him in, I thought it was going to get worse."
Bad enough to wonder if the Rays should have skipped him rather than rookie Jake Odorizzi this series or joke they'd be better off pitching the other Roberto Hernandez, who's still in uniform occasionally as a coaching consultant but is 48 now and six years into retirement....
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Rays wary of understudy-filled Yankees
05/23/13 The HeaterST. PETERSBURG — The Yankees come to the Trop this weekend with a roster filled with unfamiliar names, but the team's familiar place atop the AL East standings makes it clear the challenge facing the Rays.
"It doesn't surprise me," 3B Evan Longoria said. "I mean, everybody has come to expect the Yankees to be this lineup of big-name All-Stars that everybody knows their names and you can go one (through) nine and name all the Yankees in the lineup....
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Rays' bullpen consistent only in inconsistency
05/23/13 The HeaterST. PETERSBURG — Beneath all the sophisticated theorem, advanced statistics, complex strategy and matchup-exploiting maneuvers Joe Maddon employs in managing the Rays bullpen is a core prerequisite:
Knowing what to expect from each reliever.
But nearly two months into the season, the most consistent thing about the bullpen has been its staggering inconsistency.
Pitcher to pitcher, game to game, batter to batter there's been little the Rays can count on. Except that it's probably going to end up being, at the least, more interesting than necessary....
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Rays: Stats of day; best offense; Longoria rare company
05/23/13 The HeaterRays vs. Yankees
When/where: 7:10 tonight; Tropicana Field
TV/radio: Sun Sports; 620-AM, 680-AM (Spanish)
Tickets: $19-$300, at Tropicana Field box office, Ticketmaster, raysbaseball.com, team Tampa store; $3 surcharge within five hours of game time.
Promotion: Fernando Rodney figurine with Tampa Bay Times ticket tandem, see raysbaseball.com/tandems....
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Video: Rays Rodney on blown save
05/22/13 BlogRays closer Fernando Rodney talks about giving up the 9th inning homer to Jose Bautista that led to his blown save, and the 4-3 10-inning loss.
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Rays blow it again, lose to Jays 4-3 in 10
05/22/13 BlogThe Rays ended a good road trip in a bad way Wednesday evening, blowing another ninth inning lead and losing to the Jays 4-3 in 10 innngs.
The Rays took a 3-2 lead into the ninth, having gotten 8 strong innings from Jeremy Hellickson and rallying in the top of the ninth to snap a 2-2 tie, James Loney singling in Evan Longoria, who had doubled to extend his career best hitting streak to 16 games.
The Rays turned to Fernando Rodney to get the last three outs, but he failed them again. Rodney gave up a leadoff homer to Jose Bautista, his second of the game, and then was lifted after a one-out walk to Adam Lind. Joel Peralta came in and got them out of that mess.
The Jays won it in the 10th with Cesar Ramos on the mound. Colby Rasmus reached on a rare error by 1B James Loney, who couldn't handle a low throw by C Jose Molina after fielding Rasmus's squibber. Rasmus moved to second on a bunt and then third on a ground out.
The Rays turned next to Kyle Farnsworth, and after getting ahead 0-and-2 on Jose Bautista, he gave up a single to rightfield tha scored the winner.
The Rays are off Thursday and open a weekend series with the Yankees on Friday at the Trop.
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Minor-league P Yepez suspended 50 games
05/22/13 BlogAnother Rays minor-leaguer was suspended for drug-related reasons, RHP Angel Yepez getting a 50-game ban after testing positive for "metabolites of Nandrolone, a performance-enhancing substance,'' according to an MLB release.
Yepez, 18, is in his first pro season and pitching in the Venezuelan Summer League.
He is the ninth Rays minor-leaguer to be suspended for drug-related reasons since the start of last season. RHP Jose Disla, a 17-year-old on the Dominican Summer League roster, was suspended last month....
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Rotation shuffle: Cobb to face Yankees Sunday, Odorizzi vs. Marlins Monday
05/22/13 BlogThe hinted change in the Rays rotation became official Wednesday, with a decision to move RHP Alex Cobb up to face the Yankees on Sunday and bump rookie RHP Jake Odorizzi back a day to face the Marlins on Monday.
The change was possible because the Rays are off Thursday, meaning Cobb will pitch on regular rest on Sunday. And manager Joe Maddon acknowledged that he pulled Cobb when he did Tuesday, after 107 pitches, with the idea that he would be brought back to start Sunday....
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Joyce feeling "pretty good," expects to play Friday
05/22/13 BlogOF Matt Joyce said the right hamstring tightness that forced him from Tuesday's game "is nothing too serious" and he expects to return to the lineup on Friday - with the possibility he could pinch-hit today.
Joyce said he wanted to stay in long enough to hit again last night and then be replaced by a pinch-runner, but the Rays coaches didn't want to take any chances. He thinks the tightness was the result of being dehyrdated for the last several days....
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For starters: Rays at Jays, at end of the road
05/22/13 BlogUPDATE, 3:34: Longoria said Maddon and bench coach Dave Martinez suggested the DH idea and given that they were playing on turf here and are off tomorrow he agreed. ... Maddon said Molina essentially talked his way into the lineup, that he was "very convincing that he was healthier.'' .. Maddon said Joyce definitely should be available as a pinch-hitter tonight.
Jays lineup:
Gose lf
Bautista rf
Encarnacion dh
Lind 1b
Arencibia c
Lawrie 3b
Rasmus cf
Izturis 2b
Kawasaki ss
Buehrle p...
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Rays blow lead in 9th, lose to Jays
05/22/13 The HeaterTORONTO
The routine has become stunningly commonplace by now — the frustrated reaction followed by the long walk, lowered heads, sullen clubhouse and generic answers laced with requisite optimism.
The Rays blew another lead and lost another game they looked to have won Wednesday, ending what had been a good road trip in a terrible way, a 4-3 10-inning loss to the Blue Jays.
It would seem amazing, only it has happened too often to be, the third game they've lost this season when leading in the ninth, the seventh when leading from the seventh inning on....
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Rays' Longoria says legs felt tired early in season
05/22/13 The HeaterTORONTO — As remarkably well as 3B Evan Longoria has played thus far, he said early on his legs felt so tired he worried if he could make it through a full season.
"I felt pretty bad after the first week of the season, like 10 games in. I was kind of scared," Longoria said. "Because in spring training, you probably don't play three-four games in a row at the most toward the end of spring. Once we got like a week, 10 days into the season, I was feeling like, man, my legs were tired. And thoughts started to creep in about how you're going to do it for 162 days."...
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Rays: Bautista "comfortable" against Rodney, Maddon upbeat on bullpen
05/22/13 The HeaterToday: Off
Next game: 7:10 p.m. Friday, vs. Yankees, Tropicana Field
Probable pitchers
Rays: RH Roberto Hernandez (2-4, 5.24)
YANKEES: RH David Phelps (2-2, 3.83)
On deck
Saturday: vs. Yankees, 4:10, Sun Sports. Rays — Matt Moore (8-0, 2.29); Yankees — Vidal Nuno (1-0, 0.00)
Sunday: vs. Yankees, 1:40, Sun Sports. Rays — Alex Cobb (5-2, 2.73); Yankees — CC Sabathia (4-3, 3.43)...
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Video: Cobb on 5th win
05/22/13 BlogRays RHP Alex Cobb talks about pitching into the 7th against Toronto for his fifth win of the season.
