TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Rays Keep Up Winning Ways

ADVERTISEMENT

By CARTER GADDIS

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 26, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - Carlos Pena said he knew when the ball left Evan Longoria's bat that he'd score in the bottom of the ninth inning Sunday at Tropicana Field. Rays manager Joe Maddon said he knew it, too.

Longoria wasn't so sure; but then, he's a rookie and the game at this level can still surprise him.

Thing is, how can anything these Rays do surprise anyone any more? Of course Longoria's hard-hit fly ball split the Baltimore outfielders ("bisected the gap perfectly," as Maddon put it) for a game-winning double and of course Pena chugged around to score from first base, giving Tampa Bay a 5-4 victory and a three-game sweep of the Orioles.

At 30-20, having won 15 of 16 home games and sitting at 10 games better than .500 for the first time in franchise history, the Rays reached Memorial Day leading the American League East by a half-game over the second-place Boston Red Sox.

Want perspective? It took the 2002 Rays 96 games to reach 30 victories. Fifty games into the most promising season in team history, not even the most jaded observer could call this a fluke.

"How would it be?" Pena said. "These guys are going out there giving great performances on the mound. We're playing great defense every single day. And timely hits, timely hits, timely hits. And just putting good at-bats together one right after another. ... It's a complete team. I have all the confidence in the world right now in our pitching, our defense, our hitting and our team."

They did it Sunday the way they've done it all year long.

Starter James Shields wasn't at his best, but he was good enough over eight innings (three earned runs).

"I thought he did a great job keeping it at four runs," Maddon said. "He never broke."

Relievers Trever Miller and Troy Percival handled a scoreless ninth after Shields unsuccessfully lobbied to pitch one more inning. Miller came on to retire Rays nemesis Aubrey Huff, whose seventh home run (third against his former team) tied the game at 4 in the sixth.

The Rays played error-free again, giving them a 30-game stretch with only four defensive miscues. That's the fewest errors over 30 games since Seattle committed only three May 29-June 30, 2003.

Left fielder Carl Crawford's diving catch on a Melvin Mora looper was the first of three standout defensive plays.

In the seventh, second baseman Akinori Iwamura robbed pinch-hitter Luke Scott of a potential infield single by charging hard up the middle to backhand the hopping grounder and throw across his body for the out.

That same inning, Longoria bare-handed a bunt by Ramon Hernandez and threw out the Orioles catcher by a step.

"I can't ask for anything more from the defense," said Maddon, whose team is tied with the Angels for the best fielding percentage in the AL. "All of them have been playing at a very high level."

Longoria provided the most dramatic piece of timely hitting, but a four-run third against Baltimore starter Daniel Cabrera had its share of professional at-bats, including Pena's 10th home run.

The victory improved the Rays' record in May to 15-8, clinching the first winning May in team history after the winningest April in team history.

How significant is a 30-20 record at this point in the season? From the time the Rays began play in 1998 through last season, 39 teams reached May 26 with a record of 10 games or more above .500.

Of those 39 teams, 25 (66 percent) went on to make the playoffs. Of course, that means 14 (34 percent) failed to reach the post-season.

Today, though, the Rays are in first place, tied with the Diamondbacks for the best record in the majors.

A fluke? It doesn't feel like it to the Rays.

"Our goal is to continue to do things that have never been done here before," Maddon said. "We just continue to work toward that on a daily basis."

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

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT