Rays' pitchers in a fight for the last spot

The Tampa Bay Rays have a battle going for the fifth starter's job after all, and Joe Maddon says it's a very close call between Wade Davis and Andy Sonnanstine.

While the manager has always maintained the job is open, the assumption was it was Davis' to lose, based on his strong showing at the end of last season, and that Sonnanstine was competing mainly for the final bullpen spot.

But Sonnanstine committed himself to a rigorous offseason workout program, and after a shaky showing in his spring debut, he has pitched well. He has caught up to Davis, and Maddon said Wednesday an evaluation won't be made until the end of camp.

"All I know is it was great to see Sonny look like that again," Maddon said about Sonnanstine's four scoreless innings against the Red Sox on Tuesday night. "Last year, he didn't look like that at any point.

"So I know he really got after it this winter."

Davis was 2-2 with a 3.72 ERA after his call-up Sept. 4 last year, while fellow righty Sonnanstine followed a 13-win 2008 season with a difficult year in which he was sent down once, dropped from the rotation twice and compiled a 6.77 ERA.

But in 2008, Sonnanstine played a key role in the Rays winning the American League East and going on to the World Series. He started the year 10-3, helped the Rays go 20-12 in his starts and didn't allow an earned run in 14 innings against the Red Sox.

And he won another two games in the postseason. The Rays have been holding out hope Sonnanstine can regain that form.

"Sonnanstine pitching like he can is very attractive," Maddon said. "He's always been a winner. He's been a winner his whole career. I don't think that's going to go away. I think what's been added is he's found a method of preparing himself differently."

Davis has a 7.04 ERA in three appearances this spring, but that includes a five-run first inning against the Pirates in Bradenton last week in which he was overpitching.

He was more like his intimidating self Tuesday against the Red Sox, striking out the side in the first inning and pitching four scoreless innings of his own.

"I know I'm in a competition, and maybe that will help," Davis said. "I'll just keep going out there and trying to get people out. The main thing is to get a little better each time and (Tuesday) night was much better."

Sonnanstine, who turns 27 today, started an offseason program in November that was "night and day" different from anything he's done before.

Starting in December, he worked out three times a week at Tropicana Field, taking ground balls, hitting in the cage, doing "everything I could to get better in all aspects of my game."

He also incorporated kickboxing and yoga into his routine.

"When I would lay my head down to sleep at night once I started those workouts, I'd ask myself, 'Did I do absolutely everything I could to get better today?' and I started sleeping easier," Sonnanstine said.

Maddon noted that Sonnanstine's velocity was back up in the high 80s Tuesday night - the range where he is most effective - and suggested that the soft-spoken Ohio native performs best when he is being written off.

"His whole career, he has pretty much been that guy," Maddon said. "He's never thrown hard enough to pitch in the big leagues. He's been too skinny to pitch in the big leagues, all those things.

"But he's pitched in the big leagues, and he's done it well."