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Rays Take Wins In Stride

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By CARTER GADDIS

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 2, 2008

BALTIMORE - When things go well, they say, you're supposed to act like you've been there before. That's all well and good for the Red Sox and Yankees, who have, in fact, been there before.

The Tampa Bay Rays have not. Yet, there they were at Camden Yards, calmly enjoying the aftermath of a 4-2 victory Thursday afternoon against the Orioles, busily readying themselves for the quick charter flight to Boston and (another) three-game series to determine the leader in the American League East.

This is all new for the Rays, who are four games over .500 (16-12) for only the third time in team history and at the latest stage of any of their 11 seasons.

And it's not as if they're accustomed to the view from the top of the division, a spot they occupy by percentage points after the Red Sox lost to the Blue Jays on Thursday night.

Tampa Bay closer Troy Percival, one of a handful of Rays who knows what it takes to endure the six-month grind of a playoff chase, approves of his new teammates' demeanor.

"The guys are handling this with a lot of composure, because we know it's early," said Percival, who pitched a perfect ninth Thursday to earn his 330th career save and move into a tie with John Wetteland for No. 10 all-time. "We know we'll probably hit a slide here and there. As long as we just keep playing consistently and playing hard, I think the guys' attitude is going to help us out."

In his first two seasons as Rays manager, one of Joe Maddon's primary functions was unofficial cheerleader. It had to be that way, because those two teams finished with the worst record in the majors and never had to concern themselves with handling success.

Now, Maddon's job is to help his players maintain perspective. He, like Percival, is more than pleased to see the Rays take it all in stride.

"I love the way they've reacted to this whole thing right now," Maddon said. "We're coming out on a daily basis and we believe we can win that game, regardless of who we're playing, who's pitching against us. We believe we can win that game that day, and that matters."

This game, this day, came down to a solid performance by starter Matt Garza, a timely two-run single by All-Star Carl Crawford and more wonderful work by the bullpen.

Garza went six innings in his second appearance after coming off the disabled list after a two-week absence with radial nerve irritation. He improved to 4-0 lifetime against the Orioles, the only team he has beaten more than twice.

After Carlos Pena's run-scoring ground ball in the first and Jonny Gomes' third home run in the fourth made it 2-0 Rays, Garza allowed a two-out double by Aubrey Huff and a two-run homer by Adam Jones to tie it in the fourth.

Crawford singled home Shawn Riggans and Jason Bartlett to break the tie in the seventh.

Rays reliever Dan Wheeler, making his team-high 13th appearance, retired all six batters he faced in the seventh and eighth to lower his ERA to 1.20. Percival then improved to 6-for-6 in save situations to lower the Rays' bullpen ERA to 2.49 (23 runs in 83 innings).

Percival hasn't allowed a run in 10 appearances and has given up two hits and one walk in 10 innings.

"The whole bullpen's been doing a great job the whole year," Maddon said, "but those two guys in particular have been pretty much spectacular."

Then it was off to Boston, where the Red Sox presumably still are smarting from a three-game sweep at the hands of Tampa Bay last weekend at Tropicana Field.

Another sweep would leave the Rays even deeper in uncharted territory.

Their reaction to a first-place showdown with the defending World Series champions? Ho, hum.

"It'll be the same," Crawford said. "We know they're a tough team. And we beat them three games, so they're definitely going to come at us hard. We won't try to do too much. We'll just try to do what we've been doing and go from there."

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

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