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Rays Finding Out What September Is Really About

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By JOE HENDERSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 9, 2008

BOSTON - Baseball was made for nights such as this.

The first touch of fall hung in the air over Fenway Park - crisp, invigorating and promising the first five months of the baseball season were nothing but prelude. It was about to give way to the rush of September as two contending clubs (one of them named the Rays) faced off in this idyllic setting.

But crisp soon gave way to chill. The Red Sox put up three runs in the first off Edwin Jackson, a symbolic finger-wag by Boston as if to say, "Not yet, newbies. Not yet." That's all it took.

By the time the 456th consecutive sellout crowd rolled out of Fenway onto Landsdowne Street and beyond for the commute home, Boston had a 3-0 victory and the Rays have one request: If you know of the culprits who hid all the clutch hits in their bats, dial 1-800-2FEEBLE at once.

This is getting serious.

They have lost four straight and six of seven in September, which is not exactly the kind of statement they were hoping to make in this most important month.

It was the second shutout in as many days thrown at the Rays, the first time that has happened since April 28-29 in 2004. Rocco Baldelli struck out four times, including the last out in the eighth with two runners on. They had runners on in each of the last five innings. They stranded eight overall.

They have scored in just two innings over their last 31 frames. And with Daisuke Matsuzaka and Josh Beckett lined up for Boston the next two nights, well ... anyone know a good rain dance?

Oh, and B.J. Upton left the game with a quad injury.

Day-to-day, they say - which is kind of how the season is starting to look.

Lead Has Shrunk

Their lead in the division is down to a half-game over Boston, although they still have a comfortable - well, maybe that's not a word they should use right now - lead over potential wild-card challengers. But panic?

"I like the energy, the enthusiasm, and the quality of our play is very good," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "We've just run into a little bit of a snag hitting-wise. When you don't hit, all of a sudden everybody wants to magnify the negativity about it. Don't become confused. We're playing well right now."

Of course, Joe Maddon always says things like this.

A better barometer on the Rays' state of mind would probably be found in the clubhouse where, well, players were huddled around a big screen TV after this game watching the end of the "Monday Night Football" game between Minnesota and Green Bay. No one threw a bat through it, although given the way they're swinging lately they probably would have missed anyway.

"I think everyone gets frustrated day to day with their own play," Baldelli said. "That happens as part of the game. But for an overall sense of frustration, I don't really sense that at all.

"This is the same team that lost seven straight right before the all-star break and came back and played the best baseball of the year right after that. We knew this would be a tough road trip and we just have to finish it up strong."

Gamble Didn't Work

Go back to that moment in the eighth inning. The Rays had been battling Sox lefty starter Jon Lester all night and finally chased him after Carlos Pena doubled, putting runners at second and third with two out. Boston closer Jonathan Papelbon was summoned from the bullpen.

Although he had lefties Cliff Floyd and Erik Hinske to choose from against the righty Papelbon, Maddon stuck with Baldelli. The gamble didn't work; Baldelli struck out on 97-mph gas.

"I really felt good about Rocco in that situation," Maddon said.

There have been many other times this year when his intuition has proven correct. This wasn't one of them.

An inning later, it was over. And all the chatter now is how Boston is surging and the Rays are finding out what September really means.

"It was a good atmosphere tonight at the ballpark," Lester said afterward. "It almost felt like we were in the playoffs."

Games like this may yet prove to be a playoff dress rehearsal for the Rays. That's a discussion for another morning, though. Right now, they need a hit. They need a hero. They need something to warm the crisp autumn air. Right now, it just seems cold.

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