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Another Long Rays Season Ends On Positive Note

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Marc Lancaster/The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 30, 2007

TORONTO - The Devil Rays stumbled down the homestretch in their 10th season, serving as fodder for playoff-bound opponents and watching two division rivals clinch a postseason berth at Tropicana Field.

Sunday afternoon, they managed to pull off one last rally before dispersing for the winter. Tampa Bay scored five runs off Blue Jays starter A.J. Burnett in the sixth inning to pave the way for an 8-5 victory. The Rays' 36th come-from-behind win this season gave them a final record of 66-96, the worst in baseball.

For all the positives the Rays can point to as they begin preparations for 2008, bringing up the rear once again was a disappointment to Manager Joe Maddon.

"It's so easy to look back over the course of the season and there were so many opportunities to win games that we had very big leads and lost, which would have really made a huge difference right off the bat," he said. "So obviously that points to our pitching, which I thought got better. The young guys in the rotation got better. The additions in the bullpen made it better. So that's why we were able to finish stronger as a whole."

Though the Rays lost nine of their final 12 games, a winning August and much-improved all-around pitching in the second half provided an indication of how results could turn around in a hurry with a few additions. As long as the Rays can maintain the quick-strike offense that was on display Sunday, they'll have a fighting chance.

Jason Hammel, starting the season finale for the second consecutive year, gave up a run in four of the first five innings, leaving the Rays in a 4-2 hole. But the Rays sent 10 men to the plate in the sixth, working patient at-bats and delivering key hits to drive Burnett from the game and lay the groundwork for a season-ending victory.

"I had no worries," Hammel said. "Keep the team in the game, they'll come through."

No one did that with greater impact this year than Carlos Pena, who singled and scored in the sixth after sending his 46th home run of the season high over the right-field fence to open the scoring in the first inning. Pena finished the year fourth in the majors in home runs and his 121 RBIs were the sixth-most in baseball.

"I'm glad we got that win, just to end it up on a good note," Pena said. "Personally, I'm just extremely happy and thankful and excited about it all. It won't be until probably I'm home on the couch that I'll be able to look back and look at it slowly and really look at the details and all that stuff, but one thing's for sure - I'm very grateful."

Having players capable of putting up the kind of numbers Pena, Carl Crawford, B.J. Upton and Delmon Young did this season is a foundation for greater achievements, and Maddon hopes to see the Rays build on that next season.

The next on-field step comes Feb. 14, when pitchers and catchers report to the Naimoli Complex in St. Petersburg.

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

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