Rays may not have answers

And back the other way we go.

The pendulum keeps swinging at Tropicana Field, and there are nights when it swings like an ax.

Another big house saw another lifeless night. For the second time in three days, the Rays couldn't begin to match the Yankees.

They won't see them again until September in New York, and by that point they might need binoculars to spot them.

With a 6-2 win, the Yankees left the Trop farther ahead of the Rays then when they arrived, and that is ominous.

A night after the Rays drew a line in the Trop with a win, they were overwhelmed by Yankees starter Joba Chamberlain, just as they were in the first game of the series by A.J. Burnett.

Adding to the fun is the looming trade deadline, sure to bring more bad news, seeing as the Rays probably will be in the studio audience - again.

Cliff Lee went to the Phillies and Philadelphia didn't give up its best prospects. He would have looked nice here, you know, until the Rays had to pay him next season. At least he didn't go to the Yankees or Red Sox.

Alas, Boston's periscope has broken the surface in the waters outside Blue Jays pitcher Roy Halladay. And the Yankees are bound to do something.

The Rays say they have what they need.

"We've got to get it from the guys here," Manager Joe Maddon said.

The fact of the matter is that the Rays made their moves in the offseason. They tweaked the bullpen, which hasn't worked out badly, traded Edwin Jackson, which thus far hasn't worked out well, and acquired Pat Burrell, who has been a disaster.

You can't miss on stuff like that, because with this team, with this payroll, in this market, you can't make it up. The Yankees (Carl Pavano) and Red Sox (Julio Lugo) just bury their mistakes and spend on. They Rays batted their mistake sixth Wednesday, and Burrell struck out three more times.

I'm not sure there's an answer out there that will send the Rays rocketing back to the top of the division, and if there is, they probably can't afford it in the long run. I'm still wondering how they'll keep Carl Crawford through next season. The key was to win now with him - and it's not happening.

Lee might have been a good deal. Victor Martinez makes no sense to me. Halladay is out of the Rays' league. Trading Scott Kazmir to dump salary (I mean, what would he fetch about now?) would send the wrong message at this time to this team and this town.

Probably none of those things are going to happen.

But it's also hard to believe that the current crew will emerge from its slumber for a true September run.

They showed some fire Wednesday, particularly Matt Garza, who pitched fairly well, and hurled Hideki Matsui's bat after Matsui doubled off him in the fourth inning (it rolled to a stop in front of the Yankees dugout and Yankees manager Joe Girardi).

It was probably no coincidence that Chamberlain threw over Evan Longoria's head in the bottom of the inning. It was definitely no coincidence that Garza, tired of Longoria being brushed back, drilled Mark Teixeira in the fifth.

"It's about time someone made a statement," Garza said.

Hey, here's a statement: win the game.

Garza should have kept Matsui's bat for his teammates. There might have been a hit in it. The Rays managed just three hits in eight innings against Chamberlain, who overpowered them at times, though we're starting to wonder what power it takes right now against the likes of Burrell (.219), Carlos Pena (.213) and Dioner Navarro (.223). These guys are killing this batting order.

Longoria, who homered in the ninth to spoil a New York shutout, said the answers are already here:

"I think, like I said, our team is good enough to win this division again. I firmly believe that."

They'll have to keep telling themselves that. Don't expect much at the trade deadline. But if the Rays already have the answers, they'd better speak up soon because the silence is deafening. Wednesday, you could almost hear a playoff race disappear.