TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Rays A Win Away From Securing First Trip To Postseason

Getty Images

First baseman Carlos Pena #23 of the Tampa Bay Rays celebrates his home run against the Minnesota Twins during the game on Friday at Tropicana Field

ADVERTISEMENT

By MARC LANCASTER

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 20, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - This one wasn't about to slip away from the Rays.

Shaking off the previous evening's ninth-inning collapse, Tampa Bay put itself on the brink of clinching a playoff spot by hammering the Twins 11-1 Friday night.

A Rays victory this afternoon would lock up a postseason berth and send champagne corks flying in the home clubhouse. There was a chance for the Rays to clinch Friday night with the proper results in three other games, but it didn't happen.

They would rather do it on their own anyway.

"I really would," Manager Joe Maddon said. "Of course, if it would have happened that would have been fine, but it would be kind of nice to go out and take care of business on your own. I kind of like that idea."

Even if that moment so few dared to even dream of finally arrives sometime today, though, Maddon emphasized the need for the Rays to keep driving ahead.

"To be able to move on to the postseason would be great, but still, that's just one of the goals," he said. "It's also to win the division and it's also to have the best record in the American League. I would love for us to have homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs, so I don't want any of us to be satisfied with just getting there at this point. There may have been a day that that might have been OK, but it's not right now."

The Rays' ability to keep their focus short-term and focus on the next day's game has served them well throughout the season, and it came into play again Friday.

Shaking off a run of ugly first innings by Rays starters that began when he surrendered four to the Yankees in the opening frame Sunday, Edwin Jackson had the pleasure of allowing his teammates to do the early damage. Jackson needed 22 pitches to work through a top of the first that saw two men reach base, but he stranded them there and the Rays' bats went to work.

Tampa Bay put up three runs in the first against Nick Blackburn and was positioned for more before Dioner Navarro grounded into an inning-ending double play. But Blackburn was gone before he could record his fifth out.

The Rays loaded the bases with one out in the second on an infield single by Gabe Gross, an Eric Hinske walk and an intentional walk to Akinori Iwamura after Fernando Perez bunted the first two over. Former Twin Jason Bartlett then singled to left to put the Rays up 4-0 and Carlos Pena followed by working a bases-loaded walk - his eighth such free pass of the season - to force in Hinske.

That was it for Blackburn, who gave way to St. Petersburg native Boof Bonser. Evan Longoria greeted him with a sacrifice fly to left that scored Iwamura but saw Bartlett cut down for the final out as he tried to tag up and go to third.

Jackson was cruising along at that point, and the Rays eliminated any doubt in the fourth when Pena hit a three-run homer that took more than five minutes to unfold. With two on and two out, Pena lifted a high fly to right-center that was touched by a fan in the front row on its way down.

Pena initially was awarded second base on fan interference and Hinske and Iwamura were allowed to score, but Maddon argued it should have been a home run. After a 4-minute, 10-second review of the video, umpire crew chief Gerry Davis emerged and signaled for a home run, making it the first call on the field officially overturned by instant replay.

"It's there for that purpose," Maddon said. "It worked tonight and we're very pleased about it."

The extra breathing room undoubtedly made a difference for Jackson, who bounced back from his two-inning disappointment at Yankee Stadium to finish strong Friday. When Jeff Niemann replaced him with two outs in the eighth, Jackson received a rousing ovation from the crowd of 28,306, prompting him to tip his cap before greeting his teammates in the dugout.

"Tonight was a good night to show people that just because you get beat in one game doesn't mean that you're going to hold your head down," Jackson said. "It's real good to be able to bounce back and just prove that when a start is over, it's really over, and you can't really take it into the next start."

He was talking about himself, but the sentiment applied to his team as well. Whenever it happens, the Rays are one win away from the playoffs.

Reporter Marc Lancaster can be reached at (813) 259-7227 or mlancaster@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT