The three other Rays to win 14 in a season are Rolando Arrojo (1998), Edwin Jackson (2008) and James Shields (2008).

“It’s great for the club, but I look at how many starts I have left and focus on that,” Price said. The answer is 12, so Price will have a shot at extending the record perhaps to the 20-win milestone.

“We have a shot,” pitching coach Jim Hickey said.

Price relied primarily on his fastball Thursday, battling back as the Tigers forced him throw a lot of pitches—115 in 6 1/3 innings. The lefty impressed manager Joe Maddon was his command.

“I thought I had a good fastball (Thursday),” Price…

According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the Tampa Bay Rays are currently the “favorites” to land the Washington Nationals first baseman Adam Dunn.

Is there really another deal that makes this much sense? 

The Rays could use another slugger. Dunn could use the playoff spotlight to propel himself to a major contract in the off-season.

So why does this deal seem almost too good to be true?

Dunn has been vehement that he does not want to be a Designated Hitter.  The Rays are worried about another Pat Burrell situation, acquiring a hitter who never adjusts to being a DH.

And yet, the Rays are considered the favorites to land the perennial 40 HR slugger. 

What raises concerns is how Dunn is not willing to be a team player in order to join in a pennant chase.  It makes you wonder if Dunn is even concerned with contending or is he more concerned with no longer bouncing around.

Dunn to the Rays makes a lot of sense.  If the Rays want to pass the Yankees, a trade like this is a direct shot in the arm.

Here is how the Rays lineup would look with Dunn:

2B Ben Zobrist

LF Carl Crawford

3B Evan Longoria

1B Carlos Pena

DH Adam Dunn

RF Matt Joyce

CF B.J. Upton

C John Jaso

SS Jason Bartlett

Adam Dunn would give the Rays another power threat to solidify the Rays lineup.  Dunn and Pena would provide the most potent duo in the AL (47 combined HR would be an MLB-high). 

And it would be coming at a time when Pena hits his annual summer hot streak.  Pena has homered in three of his last six games. 

He has driven in seven runs in his last three games. Here’s a glimpse of what could be on the horizon in August:

07 – .267, 8 HR, 25 RBI, .409 OBP

08 – .278, 9 HR, 28 RBI, .450 OBP

09 – .247, 12 HR, 29 RBI, .364 OBP

Combine Pena and Dunn, along with All-Star Evan Longoria and the Rays have a middle of the order that can challenge even the Bronx Bombers.

Dunn to the Rays?

The next 48 hours will tell whether Rays fans will need to start wearing hard hats in the outfield.

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Garza’s no-no is the fifth such performance we have seen this season already, or the sixth if you count the blatant robbery of a perfect game by umpire Jim Joyce on Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga.

Two of those no-hitters have been perfect games (Dallas Braden, Roy Halladay).

Although there seems to be a “no-hitter alert” on your sports ticker every week, it’s not as good for baseball when compared to the home run.

All of these no-hitters could be attributed to the end of the “steroid era” which plagued baseball for over a decade. It’s almost as if home runs decreased immediately as the juice from the ‘roids left the body.

Or maybe pitchers are just having off-the-wall performances by random luck. Maybe each no-hitter has been “one of those nights” when the pitcher is in another zone and the opposing team couldn’t hit a watermelon coming at 50 miles per hour.

Either way, it doesn’t make the game that much more appealing. Perfection doesn’t draw more fans; actually, it pushes them away.

If there is one thing sports fans love, it’s scoring.

They love basketball games in which both teams score in the triple digits; they love 6-5 hockey games, and they love shootouts on the gridiron.

And when it comes to baseball, fans love scoring—especially home runs.

“Chicks dig the long ball,” but so does everybody else.

I’m speaking of the casual fans who come to the ballpark or watch on TV.

They don’t like sitting there for three-plus hours to see a scoreless tie. It’s just not entertaining, but at the same time, it’s the nature of baseball.

Purists would disagree in terms of the drama and excellence of a no-hitter, because achieving such a feat is just not easy.

Every pitch means something and one wrong decision could end up costing a hurler a no-no and even put his team behind.

Just ask Max Scherzer.

This year’s All-Star game was the lowest rated game ever. The year of the pitcher was also the year of the stinker in terms of viewers tuning into baseball’s Midsummer Classic.

That says something more about the current state of the game: people are tired of it.

A no-hitter can not save the game so many have revered for tens of decades, and a slew of no-hitters won’t save it, either.

The fact is that the home run chase of 1998 and Barry Bonds’ quest to beat Hank Aaron were some of the most closely followed spectacles in the history of baseball—and all three players involved are associated with illegal performance-enhancing drugs.

We glorify those who play fair, and frown upon those who don’t follow the rules. But in our culture, the ones who did it the wrong way get more attention.

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The feat I am talking about is throwing a no-hitter for the Tampa Bay Rays. Up until last night, no pitcher was able to throw a no-hitter for the Rays, but then Matt Garza took the mound on Monday night.

Garza threw the first no-hitter in Rays history and the fifth no-hitter this season as the Rays beat the Detroit Tigers 5-0 on Monday night. Garza walked just one batter and struck out six in the 120 pitch effort.

What was interesting about this game was that Garza’s counterpart, Max Scherzer had a no-hitter through 5.2 IP. I have to admit, and with all due respect to my friend Charlie, dueling no-hitters are a lot better to watch than dueling pianos in Chicago.

Scherzer had his no-hitter attempt broken up in grand fashion—literally. Scherzer lost his no-no bid when Matt Joyce crushed a 3-2 fastball down the right field line for a grand slam.

Once Garza got the lead in the sixth, there was no stopping him. This start reminded me of his start in Game 7 of the 2008 ALCS against the Boston Red Sox. He was flat out dealing that night and he was dealing last night as well.

What was impressive about Garza’s start on Monday night was the way he worked up in the zone. Most pitchers are taught to work down in the zone, but Garza was more effective up in the zone on Monday.

Let’s take a look at Garza’s pitch chart courtesy of PitchFX.

As you can see, Garza was up in the zone all night. The dangerous location didn’t matter because his fastball had so much life on it, the Tigers’ hitters couldn’t square the ball up.

It was a very impressive start for Garza. He improved to 11-5 on the season and lowered his ERA to 4.05.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg

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