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2008 Rays: Month-By-Month

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 2, 2008

MARCH/APRIL

STANDINGS

March 31 Rays open their 11th season with a 6-2 win at Baltimore ... April 4 Dioner Navarro slices open two fingers on the dugout net at Yankee Stadium and is placed on the 15-day DL ... 5 In his Rays debut, Troy Percival records first save since July 7, 2005 ... 8 Rays fall 6-5 to the Mariners in their home opener before a full house of 36,048 ... 11 Carl Crawford collects his 1,000th career hit ... 12 Evan Longoria comes up from Durham to make his major-league debut ... 19 Andy Sonnanstine pitches a three-hit complete game shutout against the White Sox ... 24 Rays beat Blue Jays 5-3 to complete a three-game sweep at Disney's Champion Stadium ... 25 Nathan Haynes' single in the 11th beats Boston 5-4 in the Rays' first walk-off win of the year ... 27 James Shields' two-hit shutout of the Red Sox gives the Rays their first sweep of Boston in a series of at least three games

PLAYER OF MONTH

Eric Hinske hit .290 with five homers and posted a 1.011 OPS (on-base plus slugging) in his first month after making the team as a nonroster player

PITCHER OF MONTH

Troy Percival saved five games and allowed only three base runners in nine scoreless innings

MAY

STANDINGS

4 Red Sox finish off sweep of Rays at Fenway Park, spoiling Scott Kazmir's season debut ... 8 Rays beat Blue Jays in 13 innings as Dioner Navarro hits a grand slam off Shawn Camp ... 9 James Shields throws a one-hit complete-game shutout against the Angels as Evan Longoria's walk-off homer gives the Rays a 2-0 win ... 11 Rays sweep Angels for their ninth consecutive home win and move to five games over .500 for the first time in team history at 21-16 ... 13 Gabe Gross' walk-off single in the 11th off Mariano Rivera gives the Rays a 2-1 win against the Yankees ... 18 Rays fall at St. Louis on a walk-off hit for the second straight day as Tampa Bay pitchers issue a season-high 10 walks, all coming after the fourth inning ... 24 Evan Longoria hits two homers and drives in six runs as the Rays pound the Orioles 11-4 ... 26 Rays beat Rangers 7-3 and finish the day with the best record in baseball at 31-20 ... 30 Cliff Floyd's walk-off homer beats the White Sox 2-1 ... 31 Scott Kazmir beats White Sox to go 5-1 with a club-record 1.22 ERA in May

PLAYER OF MONTH

B.J. Upton hit .316, collected 10 doubles and stole 13 bases in 14 attempts

PITCHER OF MONTH

Scott Kazmir, the AL Pitcher of the Month, returned to action by going 5-1 with a 1.22 ERA in six starts

JUNE

STANDINGS

1 Gabe Gross' homer in the 10th is the Rays' third walk-off hit in a 10-game homestand, beating the White Sox 4-3 ... 5 Rays swept at Fenway Park in a game marred by a bench-clearing brawl that would lead to eight players, including five Rays, being suspended ... 6 Evan Longoria's 442-foot homer at Texas makes him one of two visiting players to reach the club level in left field, with Mark McGwire (1997) the other ... 8 Matt Garza and Dioner Navarro argue on the mound and get into a shoving match in the dugout in the middle of a 6-3 loss at Texas ... 9 Rays hit three consecutive homers for the first time, with Evan Longoria, Willy Aybar and Dioner Navarro doing the honors in a 13-4 rout of the Angels in Anaheim ... 19 Rays score seven runs in the seventh to rally past the Cubs for an 8-3 win to close out a three-game sweep of the team with the majors' best record ... 21 Gabe Gross collects third walk-off hit of the season, a pinch-hit double in the ninth against the Astros ... 24 Troy Percival collects 342nd career save to move past Rollie Fingers for ninth on the all-time list ... 25 Rays establish season high in runs with 15-3 rout of the Marlins as their first nine hitters in the fifth inning reach base and score ... 26 Matt Garza strikes out 10 in a complete-game one-hitter at Florida

PLAYER OF MONTH

Evan Longoria was dominant, hitting .300 with 11 doubles and eight homers as he was named AL Rookie of the Month

PITCHER OF MONTH

J.P. Howell picked up three wins, a save and three holds in 11 relief appearances, allowing three earned runs in 15.2 innings for a 1.72 ERA

JULY

STANDINGS

MONTH IN REVIEW

2 Rays sweep Red Sox once again at Tropicana Field, winning 7-6 before a sellout crowd as they improve to 20 games over .500 at 52-32 ... 4 Rays are only team since 1900 to have majors' best record on the Fourth of July after having the worst record the previous season ... 6 Rays beat Royals for the seventh consecutive win, the second-longest streak in team history ... 8 Rays fall 5-0 at Yankee Stadium, shut out for the first time in 71 games ... 10 Evan Longoria named to the All-Star Team after winning online vote for final AL roster spot ... 13 Rays fall 5-2 at Cleveland for their seventh straight loss, a season-long skid, and enter the All-Star break with a 55-39 record ... 15 Three Rays - Scott Kazmir, Dioner Navarro and Evan Longoria - participate in the All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium ... 19 Evan Longoria hits first career grand slam as the Rays beat Roy Halladay and the Blue Jays ... 21 B.J. Upton collects his 30th stolen base ... 24 Jason Bartlett returns after missing 16 games with a sprained right knee ... 29 Eric Hinske hits his 100th career homer

PLAYER OF MONTH

Evan Longoria was the man once again, hitting .300, posting 11 extra-base hits, driving in 16 and tallying a .905 OPS

PITCHER OF MONTH

Grant Balfour allowed five hits in 12 appearances, striking out 20 in 13.1 innings, and picked up three saves

AUGUST

STANDINGS

3 Rays beat Tigers on a bases-loaded walk by Carlos Pena in the 10th, with Trever Miller picking up the win to snap his major league-record string of 121 appearances without a decision ... 5 Rays beat Indians for their 67th victory, surpassing last year's win total ... 6 A six-run bottom of the ninth capped by Carlos Pena's three-run homer gives the Rays a 10-7 win against the Indians ... 7 Rays acquire reliever Chad Bradford from the Orioles ... 10 Rays rout Mariners 11-3 for their 71st win, breaking the franchise mark of 70 established in 2004, as Rocco Baldelli is activated from the disabled list for the first time in 2008 and Carl Crawford goes on the DL ... 14 Rays win at Oakland in 12 innings, giving Joe Maddon his 200th victory as Rays manager ... 15 Matt Garza throws a two-hit shutout at Texas ... 17 Rays beat Rangers after intentionally walking Josh Hamilton with the bases loaded in the ninth to force in a run, just the fifth time in major-league history that strategy had been employed and the first time in 10 years ... 22 Rocco Baldelli hits his first homer since May 3, 2007, and Edwin Jackson becomes the fourth Rays pitcher to rack up 10 wins as the Rays prevail 9-4 against the White Sox in Chicago ... 23 Joe Maddon records his 206th win, moving him past Larry Rothschild for the most in Rays history ... 29 Rays crush Orioles 14-3 for their 82nd victory, guaranteeing the first winning season in team history, as Scott Kazmir wins his 10th game and Cliff Floyd drives in five runs ... 30 Rocco Baldelli's double brings home the winning run for his first career game-ending RBI ... 31 Jason Bartlett's first homer since Aug. 27, 2007, helps the Rays sweep the Orioles

PLAYER OF MONTH

Carlos Pena raised his game, pounding nine homers and driving in 29 runs while hitting .278 with a 1.089 OPS

PITCHER OF MONTH

Edwin Jackson contributed a 4-1 record and 2.27 ERA in five starts

SEPTEMBER

STANDINGS

3 Instant replay is used for the first time in MLB history as the Rays fall to Yankees to end their run of 13 unbeaten series since the All-Star break ... 6 Rays lose in Toronto on Gregg Zaun's walk-off grand slam in the 13th inning ... 7 Matt Garza's string of 25.1 scoreless innings against the Blue Jays comes to an end in a 1-0 Rays defeat ... 10 Rays beat Red Sox in 14 innings on Carlos Pena's three-run homer over the Green Monster to win their first series at Fenway Park since 1999 ... 14 David Price makes big-league debut in Rays' final game at Yankee Stadium, working 5.1 innings in relief of Edwin Jackson ... 20 Rays beat Twins 7-2 at Tropicana Field to clinch a playoff spot. ... 22 Rays lower magic number to clinch AL East to four as they beat Orioles 4-2 in David Price's first major-league start ... 24 Rays finish off four-game sweep in Baltimore, their first on the road since 2000 ... 26 Loss to Tigers keeps Rays from clinching division title, but Yankees' rain-delayed win against Red Sox does the trick, setting off wild celebration at Comerica Park ... 28 Regular season ends with come-from-behind 8-7 victory at Detroit in 11 innings as Edwin Jackson ties team record with 14th win

PLAYER OF MONTH

Despite limited playing time, Ben Zobrist topped the team with 12 extra-base hits (including five HRs) and had a whopping 1.159 OPS

PITCHER OF MONTH

James Shields went 2-0 with a 2.97 ERA in five starts, walking just five in 30.1 innings as he tied the team record for wins with 14

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