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Rays Facing Toughest Test

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By Shi Davidi

Associated Press

Published: September 9, 2008

The Tampa Bay Rays have had to prove their mettle once already this season, back when they went into the all-star break on a confidence-sapping seven-game losing streak.

Were they in the midst of a long-expected swoon, some wondered? Would such a young team be able to keep self-doubt from settling into the clubhouse?

The Rays responded to that test with flying colors, closing out July by winning eight of their next 13 games and following that up with a scorching 21-7 August.

That's something for the unlikely AL East leaders to draw on during the coming weeks when the pressure of clinching the franchise's first post-season berth through a brutally tough schedule starts weighing them down.

Key Series

They opened a three-game series in Boston on Monday having gone 1-5 through their first six contests this month, and could find themselves second to the Red Sox (but still leading in the wild-card race) by the time they arrive in New York for three with the Yankees later this week.

The Rays then return home for three more with the Red Sox before hosting the Minnesota Twins for four, a stretch that will truly determine what they're made of.

"We love being in the position we're in, we've worked very hard for this, we believe we've earned the right to be in this moment," manager Joe Maddon said before his team was swept by the Toronto Blue Jays over the weekend.

"I understand the skeptics, we're playing in the best division in all of baseball and we have this tough road trip coming up against some very good teams. We get it, we totally get it."

That's not all Maddon gets.

Since last month the Rays have been without both outfielder Carl Crawford (right middle finger injury) and all-star third baseman Evan Longoria (fractured right wrist), who was activated from the DL Saturday but is only ready for very limited action.

Closer Troy Percival has also battled injury, but the Rays have held tough through it all. But now, with every game meaning so much more and a roster with virtually no playoff experience, Maddon understands he needs to lighten the load, enforcing a no-suits rule on the current road trip to help make things more relaxed.

"(Maddon) is the perfect guy for the job," said first baseman Carlos Pena. "We've been really good about turning the page on what happened yesterday, not spending too much time looking at the future."

While the current stretch is no doubt leaving the fan base in Tampa Bay feeling nervous, it's important to remember how big a step just playing meaningful September games is for this franchise.

Coming into this season, the franchise's overall record was 645-972, an astonishingly brutal .399 winning percentage. They hit the 70-win plateau for the first time this season.

A season like this had been the stuff of fantasy, playoffs or not.

"This is what I've been waiting for since I've been with this team," said outfielder Rocco Baldelli, who was drafted by the Rays in 2000 and made his big-league debut in '03. "We struggled for years and you just kind of hoped in the back of your head that one day (it would be like this).

"You always want to play for a winner but if you can take a team that's struggled and then turn it into a winner, that makes it all the more special."

Did he ever feel like it wasn't going to happen, that the losing would just go on forever?

"Of course," replied Baldelli. "We've always had young guys on this team who were good players, but we just didn't have the right mix of guys.

"We struggled pitching and if you don't pitch you aren't going to win. We pitch and catch the ball pretty well right now and that's pretty much the key to our success this year."

Maddon agrees with the notion that the turnaround after the all-star break was a key moment in their season. Their first series back was at home versus the Blue Jays, beating both Roy Halladay and A.J. Burnett in taking two of three.

Any worries after that eased.

"We lost seven in a row and then we had three days to think about it. That was no fun," said Maddon. "But we came back out and won some tough games and you could just see the confidence coming back to the forefront."

They may need a similar turn of events to keep their dream season from becoming a nightmare.

"There are still no concerns," Maddon said after Sunday's 1-0 loss to the Blue Jays. "The motto and the mantra has been to play with a consistent effort, and we're doing that. Sometimes you lose when that happens.

"All the right things are there."

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