Burrell: I didn't do enough

Disappointing, abysmal, a letdown - you can call Pat Burrell's 2009 season what you like.

"It's just, plain and simply, not good enough," Burrell said. "That's the way I look at it. You can get creative with all the words and stuff, but at the end of the day, you just haven't done good enough."

Burrell doesn't need a reminder, of course. Not of the expectations that came with his two-year, $16 million contract nor the performance that has followed. An ugly individual season compounded by a losing streak that threatened to reach a dozen boiled over Sunday, when Burrell got thrown out of the second game of the doubleheader at Fenway Park on a checked-swing call he knew was right.

"It was frustration," Burrell said. "A good team like we are, to see the way things have shaped up the last two weeks, it's frustrating and it's embarrassing and there's no other way to say it."

Burrell's difficulties at the plate have been a major - though far from the only - factor in the Rays' forgettable season. His .227 average, 13 homers and 58 RBIs in 108 games don't come close to measuring up to the steady production he put forth in Philadelphia, the kind of numbers the Rays believed he would at least be in the vicinity of matching when they signed him to a lucrative deal last winter.

In his eight full seasons with the Phillies, Burrell hit fewer than 27 homers only twice and never dipped below 21, and only once posted an on-base percentage lower than his current .326 mark.

"There's no excuses for not putting up the numbers you should put up," Burrell said.

And though he only lets in the occasional glimpse, as in his show of frustration Sunday, Burrell obviously hasn't enjoyed the process.

"Yeah, it bothers you," he said. "There's nothing worse than not doing what you feel like you should be doing. I say that loosely because everyone has different ides of stats and what you should and shouldn't do. I'm just trying to do what I've been doing. What's a good year, numbers-wise? You guys can probably figure that out. But what I'm doing hasn't been good enough."

All that's left for Burrell is to try to finish strong - "For him and for us," said Manager Joe Maddon - so he can feel better heading into 2010.

No changes

Jason Bartlett got a start at DH Monday night after playing both of Sunday's games in the field, leaving Reid Brignac at shortstop. But Maddon said he won't make a habit out of resting his regulars in the final weeks to provide younger players extra starts.

"Our guys want to finish this thing strong and well - they're really motivated to continue to play," Maddon said. "So I don't want to really pull the plug on anybody, and I don't think it's necessary, actually."

Farm facts

Charlotte fell 3-1 to Tampa and now trails 2-1 in the best-of-five Florida State League championship series, which continues tonight. ... Durham opens the Governor's Cup finals tonight at home against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre with Jeremy Hellickson on the hill.

Odds and ends

MLB will release the 2010 schedule today. The AL East is lined up to face the NL West in interleague play. ... Rays Dominican Summer League OF Waldo Rosario was suspended 50 games after testing positive for the performance-enhancing drug Stanozolol.

Marc Lancaster