Rays' Garza making move to join pitching elite

Matt Garza has the most wins in the American League, and you know what that means?

"It don't mean a thing," Garza said after beating Seattle on Wednesday night at Safeco Field. "I had four wins by this time last year and I ended up 8-12. So I'm taking it one game at a time, one day at a time. That's all I can do. I can't look ahead."

Actually, Garza is looking ahead a little. He's looking forward to the day when his name is mentioned with the best pitchers in baseball and working toward getting to that point too.

Garza improved to 5-1 after allowing two runs in eight innings Wednesday. He outpitched Mariner lefty Cliff Lee, the 2008 American League Cy Young Award winner who helped the Phillies reach the World Series in October.

"To beat guys like that you have to pitch well," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "Of course you have to score some runs, but you have to pitch well, and we did that."

Garza survived a two-run fourth inning. It was the only inning in which he allowed more than two batters to reach base. The first was Casey Kotchman, who doubled with one out. The second was Franklin Gutierrez, who hit an opposite-field homer to give the Mariners a 2-0 lead.

It was the type of performance one could expect from one of the better pitchers in the game, and Garza seems to be moving toward that end of the pool.

His 43 innings pitched and 1.13 ERA on the road are tops in the American League. His overall ERA of 2.09 is seventh.

He entered Wednesday's game fully aware he was facing off against one of the top pitchers in the game, a lefty capable of shutting down the Rays offense, and he was ready for the challenge.

"You know when those guys take the mound it can be a long night or it can be a really short one, so just make my pitches, make them, go toe-to-toe and last as long as he does," Garza said. "I did that."

Garza and James Shields (4-0, 3.15) have the most wins on a rotation that is the best in the American League. Wade Davis and David Price, who faces the A's tonight when this road trip moves to Oakland, each have three wins. Jeff Niemann, who faced the Mariners in Thursday night's finale, has one.

Together, they have an American League-low 2.94 ERA, which was the lowest ERA on May 6 by an American League team since the 2005 White Sox had the same mark.

In the seven games prior to Thursday, the starters had a 1.64 ERA. Also, Garza's outing with the sixth time a Rays starter pitched at least eight innings. That's the most by an American League staff and the second-most in the major leagues behind the Phillies, who have done it seven times.

"We're just playing," Shields said. "We're going out every night and playing hard. That's all you can ask. Right now we're in a groove and just running with it. We're not looking back. There's going to be a stretch when we hit a skid, but I think we have the bats and the defense to end it. We got a bullpen that's going to help us out. Our starters, like I said, we run a No. 1 out every night. That's what I like to see."

It was late Wednesday night and Garza said he was already looking toward his next start, which is Monday against the Angels in Anaheim.

Near the top of his preparation is finding a Popeyes Chicken near Angels Stadium.

That's part of Garza's pregame routine on the nights he pitches. Bring enough Popeyes for himself and the team.

He Googled Popeyes' locations to make sure there was one in Seattle.

"You'd be surprised," he said. "There a lot of Popeyes in a lot of places. I found that out last year. Wow, I didn't think there'd be a Popeyes up here, but I found one last year."