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Chemistry, Confidence Continue To Build

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By MARC LANCASTER, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 10, 2007

Updated: 09/10/2007 12:14 am

ST. PETERSBURG - Whether it's just a fluke or a sign of what's to come, the Devil Rays are doing things differently these days.

In three games over the weekend, Toronto's starters allowed only six runs in 21 innings. Any team would be thrilled with that kind of efficiency from its pitchers, and the Rays were duly impressed. But they also managed to win two out of three, including a hard-fought 3-2 triumph Sunday, capturing their fourth consecutive series as they continue to roll toward finishing the season on a positive note.

'We've been playing well for a while,' Manager Joe Maddon said. 'The biggest thing this last month is to prove to ourselves how good we can be, and I think we're starting to show ourselves that.'

Heading out on its most daunting road trip of the season, Tampa Bay has won nine of its past 12 games and is 15-9 since Aug. 15. Five of those victories have come against a crumbling Baltimore team the Rays are about to pass in the standings - they're a game and a half back - but the current combination of pitching, hitting and defense has the clubhouse thinking big.

'Right now, it looks like it's the start of something,' Carl Crawford said. 'I know in the past we've been known to do this, but this seems like it's a little different situation. We've got guys that you know are going to be here next year that are capable of doing the exact same thing they did this year, and since you know that it looks better than years before.'

Crawford is one of the few constants, of course, and his game-tying 431-foot home run off the C-ring catwalk leading off the sixth inning Sunday keyed the Rays' victory. It was followed five pitches later by Carlos Pena's 38th of the season, which went a mere 413 feet and just missed landing in the center-field touch tank, and the Rays had their margin of victory. The only other run the Blue Jays allowed - all of them coming out of the hand of Pinellas Park's Jesse Litsch - came on a Brendan Harris homer in the second.

It took a bit more work from another cornerstone, James Shields (12-8), to wrap it up, but his usual seven-inning allotment and a perfect inning each from Dan Wheeler and Al Reyes did the job. For a game that was tight all the way on the scoreboard, it felt at the end like the Rays were in some semblance of control, and that sort of confidence means a lot in the long run.

'It's so good to win those close ones,' Pena said. 'I think that's necessary for us to get to where we want to get to.'

And where might that be? Thoughts of the Rays slugging it out with the Yankees and Red Sox for a playoff spot in late September still seem as goofy as the science-fiction movies that were celebrated in the latest Tropicana Field gimmick Sunday. But - internally, at least - the belief is growing.

'I think we're going to be able to compete,' Shields said. 'We know it, and I think teams are starting to figure it out. All it took was to have some good chemistry and click out there. Once we're clicking, this is what we're all about.'

Of course, the reality is the Rays are 60-83 - still the worst record in baseball. It's the most recent chunk of wins and losses that have them excited about where they're going.

'It's frustrating to look at the overall record in a sense,' said Maddon, 'but from Day One, if we had a little bit different personnel from jump street, it might be different at this point. You're seeing what these guys are capable of doing. It's a combination of that, plus the experience these guys have gained over the course of the year. They're not making the same mistakes, mentally and physically.

'I'd like to believe we're starting to see what it's supposed to look like in the near future, and I'm pretty confident about that.'

Reporter Marc Lancaster can be reached at (813) 259-7227 or mlancaster@tampatrib.com.

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