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Rays Get Back On Track After Troubling Trip

Associated Press photo

Rays' Willie Aybar collides with Florida Marlins catcher Matt Treanor, left, during the sixth inning of a baseball game Friday, June 13, 2008 in St. Petersburg, Fla. Aybar scored from third base on Jason Bartlett's sacrifice fly to center.

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By JOE HENDERSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 14, 2008

Updated: 06/14/2008 12:22 am

ST. PETERSBURG - Ever have one of those trips?

The kind with two flat tires? Where the air conditioning in the car goes kaput right when the temperature hits 97? Where you think you left your wallet at the last rest stop? Where you drive around lost for an hour, and when you finally ask for directions the guy just laughs?

Everybody has.

The Rays just did.

If they're going to stay in this race all season, though - and they believe they will - the important part is figuring out what to do when you take that wrong turn and lose your way for a bit. That brings us to Friday night, back at the Catwalk Confines of Tropicana Field after a nine-game trip through the American League badlands.

"A lot of people were expecting us to fade out after the first month and a half. We don't feel that way," center fielder B.J. Upton said. "We feel like we can be there right to the end. That's what we expect."

They got off to a good start by beating the Florida Marlins 7-3. There was even a respectable crowd of 19,312 to watch.

How much better was it to be home? Well, Cliff Floyd stole a base. First time that has happened since 2006.

"That was one of those inspirational moments," Rays manager Joe Maddon said.

It's what they needed after coming back with a bit of a limp after their just-completed trip to Boston, Texas and Anaheim. They got their nose bloodied.

Troubling Trip

If it could go wrong out there on that trip, it did.

They got lost six of nine games, including all three at Boston. They left town in first place and came back in second. First baseman Carlos Pena broke a finger and went to the disabled list, and they got five players suspended after the brawl with the Red Sox.

The injury trend continued Friday, by the way, when Al Reyes was sent back to the DL because of his ongoing shoulder problem.

The suspensions dragged on, too. Friday, Carl Crawford began his four-game stretch in baseball's penalty box.

"The suspensions add a little more drama to the situation. The injuries normally do occur. But our guys who weren't starting have gotten playing time," Maddon said.

"Nobody here is crying the fact we're missing anybody, and that's the way it needs to be. You can cry about the missing ingredient, but that does you no good. Everybody has had a hand in our season to this point, and that's good."

At least they got Troy Percival back Friday.

A lot of this, actually, was to be expected.

The Rays are just 14-18 on the road, which isn't good. They are hardly unique with their struggles there, though. Boston, for one, has a worse record away from home.

Only three clubs in the majors have winning road records - only one in the AL. That would be the Angels, who were swept when they came to the Trop.

So take that road trip, throw in some bad luck with Pena and fallout from the fisticuffs in Boston, and you almost had to expect a sputter or two.

"If you're expecting a smooth ride all the way through, you're in the wrong business," Maddon said. "It's going to happen at some point."

That's why Percival, the clubhouse sage of reason, could say, "I think we're doing fine. You'd like to come off that road trip 5-4 or maybe a little better, but we lost three at Boston, and to fight back and get to even for the rest of the trip was all right. Those were good teams we were playing, at their parks."

Dome Sweet Dome

This homestand against the Marlins, Cubs and Astros is shaping up as one of the bigger stretches of the first half. Everything gets magnified now anyway, but winning at home takes on a little more urgency when you know what life's like on the road.

The Rays look like a different team at the Trop, where they are 25-10 after Friday's win, including 21 of their last 24.

You start playing the numbers. They just lost six of nine on the trip. Reverse that on this homestand and you've basically held serve against a wicked patch of the schedule. That's what contending teams do.

They'll eventually need to do better out there in the badlands, but they don't have to worry about that for a little while. They finally got directions home, back to the comfort of the catwalks.

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