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Offense Again Can't Deliver In Clutch Spot

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By MARC LANCASTER

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 28, 2008

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The sixth inning of Sunday's game said it all about the depths the Rays offense has reached lately.

Trailing by three, the heart of Tampa Bay's order finally strung something together after five innings of drudgery against unimposing Royals starter Kyle Davies. First, a walk by B.J. Upton, who then stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch. Then, a single by Carl Crawford that brought home the Rays' first run and a double by Evan Longoria to put the visitors on the verge of the breakthrough they so desperately have sought.

But what followed when Ron Mahay came on to relieve Davies was all too familiar. A strikeout by Carlos Pena. A pop to second base by Willy Aybar. A long but harmless fly to left by Jonny Gomes.

Nothing. That's what the Rays got from second and third, nobody out, and it led them to a 6-1 setback and a split of the four-game series at Kauffman Stadium.

"There's something to be said about rallies in baseball," Pena said. "We're not rallying. We're not taking advantage of that momentum and scoring some runs when the rally seems apparent. A perfect example was that inning right there."

Pena was quick to give credit to Mahay for the way he handled the situation, and he deserved it. But the Rays needed to come up with something.

They had scored a couple of runs on ground outs in Saturday's game and were hoping they could at least turn that trick again, but Pena's whiff (on the heels of a single and double earlier against Davies) and Aybar's pop-up robbed them of even that chance.

"That was huge," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "The second and third and nobody out, not to score anything - I mean, two ground balls would have tied the ballgame up right there and we didn't even get the ground balls."

The Rays are averaging 2.76 runs over their past 17 games, dating to the finale of their series against the Royals at Tropicana Field that initiated their seven-game losing streak to end the first half. Tampa Bay still has managed to win six of 10 games since the All-Star break, but that edge is attributable almost entirely to the pitching staff, and there's only so much it can do.

Following Sunday's game, Andy Sonnanstine acknowledged "there is a little bit more pressure to do well" on the pitchers with the offense scuffling so badly. The problem is especially acute for Sonnanstine, who has received more run support than any other Rays starter since coming up last season - 4.12 runs per game - and used that edge to his advantage.

He hasn't had it lately, as the Rays have scored a total of four runs in his past three starts - all losses. Sunday marked the second straight outing he left trailing 3-1, and in both instances the Rays' bullpen allowed the game to careen out of reach shortly thereafter.

Sonnanstine had a couple more runs tacked onto his ledger Sunday after he already was on the bench, courtesy of the three-run homer Al Reyes allowed to Billy Butler in the seventh. That drive also torpedoed any chance of a Rays comeback on another humdrum offensive day.

"I think I had to throw a shutout to get a win today," Sonnanstine said. "It's tough to win with one run."

He knows it, and so does everyone else in the clubhouse, but the Rays offense is past the point of motivational speeches by now. As they see it, the only solution is to keep plugging away.

"That's one of those things that the more you try to resist it or the more you try to figure it out or the more you try to come back with this sophisticated formula to get the rallies to go our way, I think it's a dead end," Pena said. "We've heard it all our lives, since we were little kids, about hitting - 'Keep it simple.'

"I think that's honestly our only option, and would be the most intelligent one - just to keep on having good at-bats, keep it simple, and understand that our talent should express itself as long as we allow it to."

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

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