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Rays Gain Ground On Road Trip

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By MARC LANCASTER

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 18, 2008

Updated: 08/18/2008 12:34 am

ARLINGTON, Texas - When the Rays departed Tropicana Field nearly two weeks ago, Joe Maddon hoped his team would be able to break even on a 10-game trip to Seattle, Oakland and Texas. And that was before he knew he would lose three key players - Carl Crawford, Evan Longoria and Troy Percival - along the way.

So, emerging from their tour of the AL West with seven victories, capped by Sunday night's 7-4 triumph against the Rangers, had the Rays feeling pretty good about themselves and their staying power.

Remarkably enough, the Rays actually gained ground in the division during the trip, leaving town with a three-game lead against the second-place Red Sox and returning with a 41/2-game edge.

"Any time you can come off a road trip and increase your lead, that's always a positive sign - especially a 10-game trip," said Maddon. "I really appreciate the overall effort of our group, I really do. I think if you have to pinpoint one reason as to why we've had a successful road trip, it's been the intensity and the effort of our group as a whole. That's what I love about it."

The Rays had everything going Sunday, and they were paced by the one player whose intensity had been very publicly questioned during the trip, B.J. Upton. Returning to the lineup after being benched Saturday and pulled from Friday's game for not hustling, Upton drove in three runs as he came up a triple shy of hitting for the cycle.

Upton's RBI double in the third inning gave the Rays their first run, and he would trot home to score one of his own moments later when Carlos Pena unloaded a three-run bomb down the right-field line. Upton then padded the lead in the fourth by scraping the right-field fence with a two-run homer that put the Rays up 7-1.

That edge looked comfortable enough before things got dicey in the ninth for the Rays. Juan Salas and Grant Balfour couldn't close the door, prompting Maddon to take the extraordinary step of walking Josh Hamilton with the bases loaded to force in a run.

"I just didn't want to see Hamilton there," said Maddon. "I mean, listen - it's his year. And why not have him hit a grand slam right there and really screw up ours? I didn't want that to happen."

It didn't, as Dan Wheeler came on to strike out Marlon Byrd to preserve the victory.

Half the games on the trip were decided by one-run margins, with the Rays winning three of them - including a couple of extra-inning affairs. Maddon has long talked about winning extra-inning games on the road, when pitchers have no margin for error once the game reaches the ninth inning, as a litmus test for a good team.

Though the Mariners, A's and Rangers hardly represent imposing opponents, the Rays have had plenty of trouble on the road against lesser teams before, so it meant something to them that they were able to take care of business. That was especially true once the Rays were forced to fill gaping holes in left field and at third base for the final two series.

"Our willpower has shown up on this trip, for me," said Maddon. "It's been difficult. We're missing some very key components, people are taking other peoples' spots and they're doing great jobs. And I'd say the starting pitching has pretty much stepped up nicely on this road trip, for the most part."

Indeed, Tampa Bay's starters - who generally have been far more effective at home than on the road - compiled a 2.97 ERA during the 10-game trip. By that measure, Scott Kazmir was just about on the average Sunday as he surrendered two runs in six innings.

The lefty still threw too many pitches, 114, but he made it past five innings for the first time in five starts and that in itself was a victory.

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