Rays on a mission with runners in scoring position

The T-shirts arrived for the players and coaches earlier during this home stand. They are Tampa Bay Rays blue with a picture of a hitter swinging on the back and these initials on the front: GTMI.

"Get the man in."

"As long as you get them in," center fielder B.J. Upton said. "That's the main thing, not how you do it."

The Rays are getting those men home in droves this season.

After Wednesday's 10-3 victory against the visiting A's, the Rays lead the major leagues with 131 runs scored (6.24 per game). They also lead the majors with a .327 average with runners in scoring position (RISP).

If you want to look for a reason why, at 16-5, the Rays have the best record in the major leagues and are off to the best start in franchise history, that's as good a place to start as any.

Last year the Rays had a .269 RISP average. They struck out far too often with runners on third and fewer than two outs.

"That's one of the things we lacked last year, moving guys into scoring position and getting them in," pitcher James Shields said.

It was a theme new hitting coach Derek Shelton intended to address this season.

Apparently, he has.

"The hitters are doing a phenomenal job of executing runs," said Shields, who benefited Wednesday from the offensive support to improve to 3-0.

Shelton had the hitters work on situational hitting during spring training, changing their mindset when they come to bat with a runner in scoring position. A hit is not necessarily the goal. A hit would be nice, yes, but getting the runner home is the goal.

It starts, Shelton said, with the right approach.

"That's the biggest message we're trying to get through, the way we want to approach those at-bats, because those at-bats directly affect the game because they affect scoring runs," he said.

The Rays' six-run fifth inning Wednesday provided a perfect example of their RISP progress during this first month of the season.

Third baseman Evan Longoria was the first Ray to come to bat with a runner in scoring position - left fielder Carl Crawford, who was on second base. Longoria hit a ground-rule double down the left field line.

First baseman Carlos Peña was next. He singled home a run.

Designated hitter Willy Aybar was next, and his single loaded the bases.

Pinch-hitter Reid Brignac drove in a run with a grounder to second.

Catcher John Jaso drove in another with a sacrifice fly.

"We want contact," Shelton said. "And once contact happens, good things happen, bad things happen, but we need contact."

Yes, bad things might happen, but a hitter ensures good things won't happen if they fail to make contact.

The Rays first two runs Wednesday night game with successful at-bats with RISP. First, Jaso bounced to first with runners on the corners to score Upton. Then, with right fielder Gabe Kapler on third, shortstop Jason Bartlett blooped a double into short right field. It was Bartlett's 10th hit this season with RISP. He is batting .555 with 13 RBIs in those situations.

Manager Joe Maddon said the Rays - hitters and pitchers - start shouting "GTMI" from the dugout when a Rays hitter has a chance to get a man in.

"We come alive when that situation arises," Maddon said. "Even on the bench, GTMI, you start hearing that from the bench. I know each hitter that goes up there is really focused on driving the run in, and when they don't they come back pretty upset. It's legit. They're very serious about this."

And why not?

"Those are the things that win ball games," Upton said.

Crawford is the one who made the "GTMI" slogan popular among the clubhouse.

"Everybody is focused on trying to win," Crawford said. "We know we have to have good at-bats to give ourselves an opportunity to win the game, so when those situations come up we know we have to have a good at-bat, try to focus a little bit harder, try to get a hit or get a man on. It seems like we thrive on those situations."

Right now, better than any team in the major leagues.