Percival Closes Out Rays' Sweep At Disney

LAKE BUENA VISTA - The numbers were right there for everyone to see on the scoreboard Wednesday night.

Troy Percival, in to close a game for the second consecutive evening, was throwing four or five miles an hour slower than he had Tuesday, his fastball topping out around 88-89 mph.

Prior to Thursday's game, he mused about how slow he might be throwing if called upon for the third night in a row.

"Who knows what it'll be today?" he said. "It might be down to 84."

On the contrary. After Percival overcame the initial objections of Rays manager Joe Maddon and entered the game to nail down his third save in as many nights, the ball was jumping out of his hand. He was up to 93 mph on the gun, and he worked his way out of a rare jam to seal the Rays' 5-3 victory against Toronto.

As Tampa Bay moved to 6-0 all-time at Disney's Wide World of Sports with its first sweep at "home" since last year's series here, Maddon was asked to name his MVP for the three games against the Blue Jays.

"Percy had three saves," he said. "I'd love to see Percy on a float."

The closer would be available for Main Street USA duties today, because he certainly won't be throwing a pitch for the Rays against the Red Sox. Maddon made that clear to anyone who would listen, citing the need to keep Percival healthy for the long haul.

If the Rays needed a reminder about how valuable he can be to them, they need only examine the last three nights. He entered each game tasked with protecting a two-run lead and didn't allow anyone to reach base until Thursday, when Shannon Stewart opened with an infield single and Lyle Overbay walked.

Even when a fly to right and a stolen base put the tying run in scoring position with one out, Percival hardly appeared concerned. He dueled with Marco Scutaro before finally striking him out, then dispensed with former Angels teammate David Eckstein on a fly to shallow center.

With all apologies to the stellar work Al Reyes did in the first half of last season, would anyone have expected Tampa Bay to get through three similar games at this point in 2007 without a devastating loss?

Of course, credit on that front also goes to the setup men for the evening, Gary Glover and Trever Miller, but Percival clearly knows what he's doing.

"Right now it's kind of nice when you can just catch the lead and say, 'Here, go for it,'" said Maddon.

Constructing that lead wasn't exactly a smooth process Thursday. All the scoring was done in the middle innings, with both sides benefiting from the others' mistakes. The Blue Jays built a 2-0 lead on Andy Sonnanstine thanks in part to a botched bunt play, with either Sonnanstine or Dioner Navarro leaving home plate uncovered (each took responsibility) after a David Eckstein sacrifice and Gregg Zaun motoring around to score from second base.

More costly was the physical error made by Toronto second baseman Aaron Hill in the fifth inning. His bad throw on what should have been an inning-ending double play left everyone safe and allowed the Rays to turn a 3-3 tie into a 5-3 advantage that would hold up the rest of the way.

As the ninth inning approached, the question was whether Maddon would allow Percival to finish it off. The manager was wary, but Percival insisted he felt better Thursday than he had Wednesday and Maddon took his word for it.

Then Percival went out and did his job, which as the Rays know all too well from bullpen horrors past, is easier said than done.

"I don't even get to do my job if everybody else doesn't do theirs," said Percival. "They're the ones that go out and get the lead, the bullpen in front of me comes in and shuts the door, the starters get us to that point. I see it as just another cog in the wheel when I get the opportunity to come in there and be the last guy."

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