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Letdown? Concerns Put To Rest Early

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By CARTER GADDIS

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 5, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - There was no national TV audience, no extra burst of adrenaline provided by a huge crowd at Tropicana Field. These were the Royals, not the Red Sox, and the Rays couldn't help but notice the difference - in the stands and the standings.

Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon even acknowledged that his players might need to provide their own adrenaline Friday after a steady throb of it during a reputation-making, three-game sweep of the defending World Series champions earlier this week.

An emotional letdown would have been understandable.

But not acceptable.

The Rays did exactly what a legitimate contender is supposed to do to a non-contender in July, even in the wake of an invigorating series against a primary foe, even in front of a crowd (16,830) roughly half the size of those that came to see Boston's demise.

Rays 11, Royals 2.

So much for a letdown.

"It just validates what I've been talking about the whole time," Maddon said. "I really mean this. It does not matter who we're playing or what the date is. We have to play the same game. Otherwise, you would insinuate that you're going to try to play up to your level of competition or otherwise. And I don't believe in that."

A day off on Thursday to gather their collective wits surely helped. More important, though, was a dynamic performance by starting pitcher Edwin Jackson and an offensive outburst spurred by the bat of Carlos Pena.

Jackson (5-6) faced the minimum of 18 batters through six innings, thanks to a pair of nifty double plays that got rookie shortstop Reid Brignac into the action early in his major-league debut. A seventh-inning home run off Jackson by Mark Grudzielanek was immaterial, considering the Rays still led, 7-1.

Another run (unearned) scored on a pitch that got away from catcher Dioner Navarro in the eighth, but these were minor inconveniences in a game that Tampa Bay controlled from the start. Jackson pitched eight innings and matched his win total of 2007, when he was 5-15.

There was no great secret to his success Friday.

"Throwing strikes. Throwing strikes, period," said Jackson, who threw 113 pitches, 74 for strikes. "Whether it be fastball, slider, change, just being aggressive and throwing strikes and making them put the ball in play and let the defense work."

The offense went to work on Royals starter Brian Bannister (7-8), who got into trouble early when Akinori Iwamura doubled to lead off the first. A Carl Crawford single and a B.J. Upton fly ball later, the Rays led, 1-0.

Pena collected the first of his five RBIs with a single in the first inning. Cliff Floyd followed Evan Longoria's double with a sacrifice fly. And on it went, with Pena launching a three-run home run off Bannister in the fifth.

Tampa Bay didn't let up, either, scoring four more runs in the eighth off Royals relievers Jimmy Gobble and Robinson Tejeda.

The home run was Pena's first since coming off the disabled list June 27 after missing 19 games with a broken left index finger.

The Rays won their fifth in a row to maintain their three-game lead on the Red Sox in the AL East and continued to carry the best record in the majors, 21 games better than .500. With bottom-line facts like those, who needs extra adrenaline? Regardless of the opponent.

"When you have confidence, the way you're supposed to feel is that you don't even worry about it, because you know it's there," Pena said. "And I think that this team is getting to that point. Not taking it for granted. I don't mean that. It's just this inner confidence that you don't even worry about. You just come out and you respect it, and you come out and play your game."

Reporter Carter Gaddis can be reached at (813) 259-8291 or igaddis@tampatrib.com.

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