RAYS END ROCKIES 11 GAME WINNING STREAK

The Colorado Rockies saw their eleven game winning streak come to an end on Tuesday, losing in emphatic fashion to the Tampa Bay Rays by a lopsided 12-4 score.  Tampa Bay hit five home runs and slammed a franchise record 11 extra base hits in the victory, running their own winning streak to six games. 

Sports bettors who backed the Rays as +110 road underdogs were rewarded with the victory, while the combined 15 runs easily surpassed the 10’ total.  The Rockies have gone OVER in 17 of 26 home games this year, while Tampa Bay has split their road totals evenly at 16-16.  The victory was the Rays’ sixth in seven Interleague games this year, while Colorado saw their record against the AL drop to 5-2.

Tampa Bay now enjoys the longest active winning streak in Major League Baseball, using home runs from Evan Longoria, Carlos Pena, Gabe Kepler, Ben Zobrist and B.J. Upton to earn the overwhelming victory.  Rays’ righthander Jeff Neiman got the victory raising his record on the season to 6-4 allowing 3 ER and 5 hits in five innings of work.  Jorge De La Rosa took the loss to drop his record to 2-7 and was pounded for 7 ER and 8 hits in just 2 1/3 innings of work.

The Rockies got off to a shabby start this season, moping to an 18-28 record which prompted the dismissal of manager Clint Hurdle.  Jim Tracy was named as his replacement, and has clearly gotten the best out of his team as they’ve gone 13-5 since the switch.  Tampa Bay’s manager Joe Maddon said that his team’s overwhelming victory was simply a matter of timing:

"I know they had been playing at a very high level. It's hard to sustain that for a real long period of time. They are very good. The way they were pitching is hard to sustain all of that forever."

Rays right fielder Ben Zobrist clearly enjoyed the easy victory:

"Boy, that was a fun win right there. Our pitching pitched well and kept the distance there once we got ahead early and the bats just kept pouring on."

Oddly, Rockies’ shortstop Troy Tulowitzki found some relief in having his team’s winning streak ended so emphatically:

"It's not like we can say, 'Oh, it was a close game. If we'd have gotten that clutch hit in the end. They beat us up pretty good. Now, we just start over tomorrow. I think we've grown more confidence to know we can compete. But now the bar is set higher."

The Rockies are now thinking about a postseason bid, a significant reversal from what looked like a lost season early on.  The two teams will hook up again on Wednesday night at Coors Field.  The Rockies will send righthander Aaron Cook to the mound, while the Rays will counter with southpaw David Price.  Price has looked very sharp in his recent starts, allowing a total of only 3 earned runs in his previous three assignments.  Colorado has struggled somewhat against lefties this year, with a 9-11 record.