DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• Troy Percival will throw from a mound on Monday and said he could pitch now but will throw a couple of bullpen sessions until the team deems him ready. [St. Pete Times]
  
• Joe Maddon's managerial style is certainly unique. John Romano says Maddon has "ignored the safer, obvious choices to do what he felt was right." Brian Anderson adds Papa Joe is "not afraid, and that's the thing I love about watching him manage." [St. Pete Times]
• Gerry Fraley of the Sporting News says the Rays could lose the rest of their games and Joe Maddon would still win AL Manager of the Year. [Sporting News]
• Gordon Edes of Yahoo! Sports looks at the relationship between Joe Maddon and Mike Scioscia. [Yahoo! Sports]
  
• In a bold statement *sarcasm*, Mike Bauman says the Rays could win the World Series if they make the playoffs...In other news Barack Obama has a shot to win the presidential election if he is nominated by the Democratic Party. [MLB]
  
• John Romano says umpires need to be held accountable, wishing that some umpires weren't "so stinking arrogant." [St. Pete Times]
  
• The Big Lead doesn't know the full name of the Rays (see title) and says Bud Selig, FOX and TBS are all rooting against the Rays. The reasoning is the Rays are bad for ratings and hence bad for baseball should they make it that far...Funny. The Marlins have won 2 of the last 10 world series, and MLB seems to be doing just fine. [The Big Lead]
• One writer is finally willing to admit that the Rays are better than the Yankees...What gave it away? The 10-game lead in the standings? [Bugs and Cranks]
  
• Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News writes that locking up the young players has paid off for the Rays and they should be able to contend for several years. [Daily News]
• Roger Mooney says that the Rays biggest strength could be "locker room harmony."...We prefer to think that winning breeds harmony, not the other way around. [Bradenton Herald]
  
• The Mets have signed Al Reyes to a minor league deal...This of course raises the question as to why Reyes turned down a minor league job with the Rays? [New York Post]
• Fangraphs takes a look at Scott Kazmir's pitch selection and notes that he is throwing more fastballs this season. Outs Per Swing made this same observation earlier. [Fangraphs]
  

THE GOOD: Andy Sonnanstine. All The Duke does is win, improving to 13-6 on the season. Show of hands: Who thought Sonny would be leading the Rays in wins in the middle of August? Put your damn hands down. Of course, Duke did his best Scott Kazmir impersonation last night, lasting only one out into the 6th inning and needing 104 pitches to get there...Joe Maddon's use of Trever Miller. Miller was signed to be 1 or 2 batter per game lefty specialist. In his first 52 appearances this season, Miller faced more than 2 batters 26 times. That is not necessarily Papa Joe's fault. Injuries have forced him to alter his ideal bullpen. But in the last two games, Miller has faced 3 batters, including his 1 out performance last night, coming on getting the all-important leadoff hitter in the 8th inning...With Jason Hammel doing his best job trying to give us a heart attack, Jason Bartlett started a georgeous double-play, going up the middle behind the bag and back-handing the ball to Aki Iwamura who stepped back out of the path of the runner and fired a one-hopper to Carlos Pena who made a slick scoop to end the inning and the threat, preserving a 5-4 lead...Sac Bunts and ignoring signs. The Rays are last in baseball in sac bunts, yet, with a 5-4 lead in the 8th and Justin Ruggiano on first and no outs, Dioner Navarro bunted Ruggy to second. Gabe Gross followed with a single in which Ruggiano ran through Tom Foley's stop sign to score the Rays' 6th run and give the Rays a little breathing room.

THE BAD: There was a big difference between BJ Upton's baserunning gaffe last night and the incidents that led to his benching this past weekend. Upton who hit what should have been an easy double, got caught jogging into an uncovered second base, when Mark Teixeira came from behind to field a throw and tag Upton out. According to Joe Maddon (and we agree), this was "not a lack of effort." Rather it was "a mental mistake." That doesn't make it OK, but does explain why Upton will not be disciplined...Our stress level. Jason Hammel relieved Trever Miller with 1 out and nobody on in the 8th inning with the Rays nursing a 5-4 lead. Hammel walked the first batter and then settled down to retire the next 2 to get out of the inning. But, just seeing Hammel in that situation gives us agida. And he needed the double-play to survive. It has been a while since we needed to take Papa Joe Behind the woodshed, but if Hammel blows that lead...

THE TELLING: With 4 teams still in contention for 3 playoff spots, the Rays now have a 6-game cushion over the 4th team, the Twins. The Rays magic number for the playoffs is 33. The Rays are also now only 1 game back in the loss column behind the Angels for the best record in baseball.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• As of last night, the Rays are planning on playing tonight's game, but are obviously monitoring the situation with Tropical Storm Fay very closely. [The Heater]
• Cliff Floyd said that BJ Upton's baserunning brainfart made "his heart hurt," and added that Joe Maddon doesn't need to address the situation because the players will take care of it. [MLB]

"You've got a guy who, in my opinion, is going to be different," Floyd said. "I'm going to put my butt on the line by saying that. I'm going to do everything possible, and I think everybody in here is going to do everything possible to make sure it don't happen again. It's not in Joe's hands anymore. It's not in anybody else's hands but ours as players."

• Troy Percival will not need arthroscopic surgery on his knee. Even without the surgery, he is still scheduled to be out 2-4 weeks. [Rays Report]
• Tony Massarotti of the Boston Herald calls the Red Sox a "mystery", saying that "suddenly, [the postseason] doesn't seem so certain," and that we "don't know a thing about these Red Sox yet." [Boston Herald]
• Brittany Ghiroli reports that Evan Longoria is progressing well and is still on schedule to return to the Rays on or around Sept. 1. [MLB]
  
• Al Reyes has cleared waivers and declined a minor league assignment. He is now a free agent. [The Heater]
• Rocco Baldelli who played the field in 2 of his first 3 games, said it was not easy on his body. [MLB]

"It was something I hadn't done yet. It was difficult, not going to say it was easy, but I came out of it feeling good."

• The Rays make a return appearance at The Dugout with Barry Bonds trying to convince Joe Maddon to give him a job, any job. [Fanhouse]
  
• Her Rays thinks Grant Balfour may need to visit the same psychologist that helped Matt Garza. [Her Rays]
  
• The odds of the Rays winning the World Series has dropped from 65:1 in the spring to 3:1 now. [Gambling911]
  

THE GOOD: Got nothin'

THE BAD: Using the batting practice jerseys during a game. We have made our feelings known about this in the past. And we are not the only ones that hate the idea...Yet another GIDP for Carl Crawford...Anytime Jason Hammel is in a game. Not just because it is Hammel, but because he is like the Grim Reaper of the Rays. He only comes into games when death is imminent.

THE TELLING: Got Nothin'

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• Gary Glover is ready to come off the DL, but did not go with the team to Toronto, even though he was in Kansas City. Marc Lancaster feels that this is a sign that Glover will be Designated for Assignment in the next day or two. That means the Rays will have 10 days to trade him. If they don't, the Rays will release him or try to send him to Durham. He can then opt to become a free agent. [Rays Report]
  
• Following Saturday's game in which Aki Iwamura failed to score from first on a 2-out bloop double, Joe Maddon ripped into the team, with one player describing him as "borderline irate". [St. Pete Times]
  
• Joe Maddon made it clear that Troy Percival is the Rays' closer...The quote below is exactly why we believe that Percival should give up the 9th inning, if just for a week or two. If his mechanics are not 100%, we do not understand why Percival is closing games. [MLB]

"His arm feels good, but I still think he's working his way through the body mechanics of coming off a leg injury," Maddon said. "As he becomes more comfortable with that, I think you'll see more strikes on a more consistent basis."

• Troy Percival is not the only reliever struggling recently. Add Al Reyes to that list. [Tampa Tribune]
• Well, the Rays are still in first place, but (no surprise here) they are not getting any respect. The New York Post says that the weekend series between the Yankees and the Red Sox apparently proves that the Rays will be the team without a chair when the music stops at the end of September. [New York Post]
  
• As the Rays head to Toronto, Joe Maddon says their last game above the border was the day the Rays proved they were a playoff contender. [Bradenton Herald]

"That night meant a lot to me because we could easily have caved in," Maddon said. "We could have caved in the ninth, and we did not. We came back. And when you're on the road playing so many extra innings you have so many ways in which you can lose that game, and we did not. We had the mental resolve to battle through that."

• The Ledger takes a look at the unorthodox style of Joe Maddon. [Lakeland Ledger]
  

THE TELLING: Noticed this during the home run derby, but forgot about it...All of the All-Stars had their team's logo on the right sleeve of the All-Star jerseys (ie. Cubs). However, Evan Longoria's jersey had the Rays' fish logo rather than the new sunburst logo. And yes, we are aware that the fish logo is the same logo worn on the sleeves of the Rays' unis, but we were surprised that the Rays did not take this opportunity to further promote their new identity. Remember it was Matt Silverman that said the Rays were no longer the "bottom-dwelling fish".

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• No surprise here. Scott Kazmir will not start on Saturday as originally intended. He is being pushed back to Sunday or Monday due to his unscheduled appearance in the All-Star game on Tuesday. Now, thanks to the extra-innings of the All-Star game, Kaz could potentially make one less start in the second half. If Kazmir misses no starts the remainder of the season and remains on his normal 4-days rest throughout, he is now scheduled to pitch on the last day of the regular season. However, if Kid K is pushed back to Monday for his second-half debut he will miss that last start. Even if he does start on Sunday, any change to the rotation, will cost Kaz a start. However, if he threw on Saturday there would be a 1-game buffer...Matt Garza will take Kid K's spot in the rotation on Saturday and Edwin Jackson will start on Sunday if Kazmir is pushed back to Monday. [The Heater]
• Did the extra-inning affair at the All-Star game strategically help the Red Sox pennant hopes? Besides potentially costing Scott Kazmir a start in the second half, you didn't see Jonathon Papelbon throwing 2.1 innings, did you? Games against the O' might be a little easier if George Sherrill throws out his arm in the second half. [The Ghosts of Tropicana Field]
• As was speculated previously, Al Reyes will come off the DL today in time for tonight's game. Reid Brignac had already been optioned to Durham to make room. The Rays now are back to a full 12-man pitching staff. [MLB]
• Joe Maddon spoke to the team yesterday during workouts and emphasized that there is no reason this club can't remain in the AL East race. [SI.com]
  
• In a "1+1=2" story, Jacob Schneider of the Tampa Tribune tells us that more wins equals more merchandise being sold, more fans in the Trop and more fans watching on TV. [Tampa Tribune]
  
• Outs Per Swing defends BJ Upton from the critics that claim he is having a down year. [Outs Per Swing]
  

THE GOOD: We are back after a much-needed 7-day vacation and an even more needed 4-day mini-vacation for 22 of the players and all of the coaches and staff...The AL won the All-Star game with a little help from a couple of Rays. This is significant as it means if the Rays go to the Wor... *smack*. Sorry. Got a little ahead of ourselves...

THE BAD: A 7-game slide heading into the break and out of first place in the AL East.

THE TELLING: Reports of the Rays death are premature. The Rays are still 1 game up on the Red Sox in the all-important loss column and still lead the Wild Card by 2.5 games over the Twins and 4.5 games over the A's...It is still unclear if the Rays will shuffle their rotation after Scott Kazmir threw 14 pitches in the all-star game. At this point Joe Maddon will go with James Shields on Friday, to be followed by Scott Kazmir, Matt Garza, Edwin Jackson and Andy Sonnanstine...The Rays are 1-7 since we got married.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• Rays the Stakes recaps Evan Longoria's performance in the Home Run Derby. [Rays the Stakes]
• Her Rays recaps the All-Star game. [Her Rays]
  
• Reid Brignac has been optioned back to Durham. Al Reyes is expected off the DL for tomorrow's game and Jason Bartlett should be available by the beginning of next week. Meanwhile, Troy Percival is expected to throw a simulated game today, but there is still no timetable for his return...As usual, we fully expect Reyes to injure himself in the next 5-6 days, lest the time continuum come to a complete stop if Reyes and Percy are both healthy at the same time. [St. Pete Times]
• Scott Kazmir stepped up and took his teammates behind the woodshed. Kazmir blames the Rays struggles on the team's inability to focus on the task at hand and being more concerned with what other teams in the East are doing on the scoreboard. [St. Pete Times]
• Rays the Stakes notes that the Rays struggles have coincided with Jason Bartlett's trip to the DL. [Rays the Stakes]
• Outs Per Swing shows that playoff teams from the past two seasons are not immune to mid-season losing streaks. [Outs Per Swing]
  
• Bill Chastain gives us his "2008 Midterm Report" on the Rays, calling JP Howell, the team's MVP. [MLB]
• The Rays were just the 5th team in the last 45 years to have 3 all-stars under the age of 25. [Bradenton Herald]
  
• Remember that minor after-hours altercation that Al Reyes got into a while back on his birthday in which one of the presents he received was a shot from a taser? Well, he doesn't. But that is a good thing as all charges have been dropped. [AP]
• Sports Talk. We want to like these guys. They seem knowledgable. But they write a blog like they are a hosting a radio show. Too many fragments. Too many exclamation points! And random halfhazard posts that apear to have been put together on a whim with little thought or substance. [Sports Talk]
• Six more exclamation points in this one, including 2 in the title...Please, stop yelling at us. [Sports Talk]
  

THE GOOD: Everything we threw last night somehow managed to miss the TV.

THE BAD: That was the worst thing the Rays could have done in the opener of this 2-game set. They walked out on the field at Yankee Stadium and took a gigantic dump right on the hallowed grounds. Losing the game, in and of itself, was not terrible. The Rays are on the road against a good team. What is bad is looking like the '07 Devil Rays and giving ammunition to all those that still believe that it is a lock that the Yankees will come back and catch the Rays in the standings. The Rays showed absolutely no life, whether at the plate, in the field or on the mound. Worse, they were beat by Andy Pettite and Derek Jeter in a "playoff atmosphere" game, which just gives the Yankees and their fanbase hope that they still have a little of that 90s "magic" left in their tank. And Dioner Navarro. We know he is The Fat Catcher, but c'mon! How does anybody get thrown out at second base on a ground ball between second and third that Jeter fielded near the damn warning track! Greg Luzinski would have beat that throw. My 2-year old cousin would have beat that throw. And Scott Kazmir. Kid K are officially off of our Christmas list. Kazmir needs to get his head out of his ass and find a way to get his teammates 6 innings. 7 would be fabulous. But right now we'll take 6. After last night, Kaz has started 5 straight games in which he couldn't get into the 6th inning. He is not an all-star.

THE TELLING: It is 9am and we need a beer.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• Evan Longoria has a slight lead at the midway point of voting for the final AL roster spot. Don't forget to go vote. Dirtbag deserves your love. [MLB.com]
• Rays of Light brings up the question of whether or not Scott Kazmir will be available to pitch in the all-star game since he is next scheduled to pitch for the Rays on Sunday, just two days before the mid-summer classic...In all likelihood, Kid K will not pitch in the game, but Tuesday would be his normal bullpen session day, so he could conceivably use the all-star game as his bullpen session. [Rays of Light]
  
• Troy Percival and Al Reyes are expected to come off the DL after the All-Star break next week. [Tampa Tribune]
  
• ArmchairGM claims that the Rays inquired about the Rockies' Matt Holliday, but the conversation ended quickly when the asking price was David Price. [ArmchairGM]
• The Serious Tip defends the recent influx of Rays "Bandwagon" fans. [The Serious Tip]
• The Rays sit atop USA Today's Power Rankings for the first time, receiving 8 of 12 first-place votes. [USA Today]
  

THE GOOD: Carlos Pena's solo home run with 1 out in the bottom of the 9th inning to tie the game. Could this be the moment that gets El Gato back on track? Prior to that at bat, Pena had left 2 runners on in the 1st inning, 3 in the 2nd, 1 runner in the 4th and 2 more in the 6th.

THE BAD: Evan Longoria and Dan Wheeler in the 10th inning. You absolutely cannot lose that game. You are at home, going for a sweep against an inferior ball club and Carlos Pena had just bailed you out in the bottom of the 9th. You have to shut the Royals down in the 10th and give your team a shot to win. Longoria put Wheeler in a jam right off the bat with a throwing error that left the leadoff runner on 2nd and Wheeler gave up a 3-run home run to a guy who only had 3 coming into the game. This is one of those games that if the Rays miss the playoffs by a game or 2, we will look back and cringe.

THE TELLING: In order to give BJ Upton a day off, Joe Maddon penciled Carl Crawford into center field and CC was not happy about it...Reid Brignac did not play and is 0-4 with a walk and 3 strikeouts in his brief major league career...Remember that "reasonable goal" of a .500 season (81 wins)? The Rays need to go 27-47 over the remainder of the season in order to surpass that mark...Even though Boston has a 1.5 game lead in the Wild Card, the Rays magic number over the second place Twins is also 69 (for a playoff spot) as both the Twinkies and Red Sox have the same number of losses.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• We are back, if ever so briefly. On Thursday Mrs. Prof (no longer just figuratively) and I will be on our way to the Islands for a week. There will be updates while we are gone, although we are still working on the exact details. More to come in the next day or two.
• The Rays have a 77.8% chance of making the playoffs this season. [The Heater]
  
• Al Reyes threw a simluated game and says he is ready to come off the DL. [Herald-Tribune]
  
• Dioner Navarro and Scott Kazmir were named to the AL All-Star squad and Dan Shanoff says the Rays got screwed by politics. [The Sporting News]
• Evan Longoria still has a shot to be named to the final spot on the AL roster, and is currently leading the voting. [The Heater]
  
• John Romano says that Joe Maddon should have been named an all-star coach. [St. Pete Times]
• Marc Lancaster says the Rays are more likely to make a small move before the trade deadline, rather than go after some of the big names that are being tossed around right now...We agree. As we have stated before, our prediction is Eric Hinske for a utility infielder that is an upgrade over Ben Zobrist and possibly a relief pitcher to add to the bullpen depth. [Tampa Tribune]
• The Rays appear to have interest in Brian Fuentes. Of course the Rockies want Wade Davis or Jeremy Hellickson. That doesn't mean they will get one of those top pitching prospects. [The Heater]
  
• Bill Madden says that with the Rays on top of the AL East, the Yankees and Red Sox lack the "spark" from years past. [NY Daily News]
• The New York Daily News says the Rays are the new "beasts of the AL East." [NY Daily News]
• Richard Justice says that the Rays could be even better in the second half...While there is definitely room for improvement, it will be difficult to keep up this torrid pace of wins especially with more games on the road in the second half. [Yahoo! Sports]
  
• Now that the Rays are on the lips of media outlets everywhere some are offended that the Rays are often referred to as the "Tampa Rays". [St. Pete Times]
• The Rays surpassed 1 million in attendance in their 48th game this season. That is second fastest in franchise history, out-paced only by the inaugural season. [Tampa Tribune]
• A writer for the Aspen Times says the Rays are "not yet" this year's Rockies (upstart World Series participant)...He is right. While the Rays may not make it to the World Series, this Rays squad is much better than the Rockies squad that got hot late and ran through a weak NL playoff field. [Aspen Times]
• Marc Topkin lays out 5 keys to the Rays playoff hopes. [St. Pete Times]
• Former Rays prospect Wes Bankston hit his first major league home run for the A's. [MLB]
• Former Rays GM Chuck LaMar would like to take credit for the Rays success. We don't have the energy to give this it's proper beatdown. [The Heater]
  

THE GOOD: Andy Sonnanstine was lucky he only gave up 2 runs in the first inning. A strike-'em-out-throw-'em-out, got the Rays out of the top of the first only down 2-0. And the Rays offense did exactly what they needed, scoring twice in the bottom half of the inning on a 2-run double from Eric Hinske, to get back all-square and not have to play most of the game from behind. Sonny seemed to settle down past that point, retiring 12 straight before a 1-out double in the 5th...You know the Rays were having their way on the basepaths when Cliff Floyd steals a base...The top of the order had been struggling of late, but with Dioner Navarro in the 2-hole for just the second time this season and Eric Hinske batting cleanup, the top 4 combined for 7 hits and 5 RBI.

THE BAD: It is never good when the pitching coach goes to the mound after the first 3 batters of the game. Andy Sonnanstine gave up a triple, a double and a single to start the game...The unwritten rules says a runner should never make the 1st or 3rd out at third base. But there are bad times to make the 2nd out at third base also. Like last night when Eric Hinske was caught trying to steal third base with 1 out in the bottom of the first inning with Evan Longoria at the plate. With an RBI-guy at the plate, give him a chance to drive in the run.

THE TELLING: Andy Sonnanstine was taken out with 1 out in the 6th inning, having just struck out Jorge Cantu. Sonny had thrown only 86 pitches. In his last start, Sonnanstine threw only 76 pitches and was also pulled in the 6th inning. This is strange as The Duke seems to get stronger as the game goes along. This season opponents have an .855 OPS in innings 1-3, a .799 OPS in innings 4-6 and a .472 OPS beyond the 6th inning...One of the Marlins TV announcers is an idiot, at one point saying: "there is a differnet feel...you are used to coming in here and seeing young talent in terms of speed and power, a Delmon Young and Elijah Dukes". Elijah Dukes played a grand total of 52 games for the Devil Rays...The Rays still lead the wild card by 3 games over Oakland.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• Don't forget to VOTE for Carl Crawford to start the all-star game. If you haven't voted yet today, go NOW! [MLB All-Star Voting]
• Troy Percival returned from the DL and nobody was DFA'd, as Al Reyes went back on the DL...At this point, we fully expect Percival to go back on the DL in 2 weeks with Reyes and Percy just trading places for the rest of the season. [The Heater]
• Marc Lancaster says that the Rays 1,000th loss "passed without much notice"...Dude. That shit was on Deadspin. 64 kazillion million people read that website. Mr. Lancaster should check it out sometime. All the cool kids are doing it. [Rays Report]
  
• Will Carrol weighs in on the Ken Griffey Jr-to-the-Rays speculation. [Baseball Prospectus]
• Baseball Prospectus breaks down some of Matt Garza's numbers and suggest that he is pitching even worse than he appears. [Baseball Prospectus]
  

Sorry guys...just the links today...Pulling double-duty over at MLB Trade Rumors.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• Don't forget to VOTE for Carl Crawford to start the all-star game. If you haven't voted yet today, go NOW! [MLB All-Star Voting]
• In case you missed it, the Rays have signed Scott Kazmir 3-year contract with $28.5 million, with a 4th year team option for $11 million. This deal buys out the remaining two arbitration seasons and the first two free agency years. [St. Pete Times]
• Al Reyes was activated from the DL and appeared in last night's game. To make room on the roster, Scott Dohmann was DFA'd. We assume that Dohamnn will clear waivers, but with Grant Balfour pitching well in Durham, he may decline the assignment to Durham and choose to become a free agent. [Rays Report]
• Marc Lancaster is reporting that the Rays and Pirates reached an agreement on a deal so that the Pirates can keep Evan Meek in their system. Meek was a Rule 5 selection by the Pirates, but was recently dropped from their 25-man roster. Without the deal, the Pirates would have had to return Meek to the Rays. No word yet on the particulars of the deal. [Rays Report]
  
• Big League Stew takes a look at the early season success of the Marlins and Rays and puts together a fairly solid all-star team from just those two rosters. [Big League Stew]
  
• Edwin Jackson is not worried about losing 2 W's to Troy Percival blown saves...We always think people make too big a deal about this paticular scenario. For every 8 shutout innings that are not a Win, there are 2 or 3 starts in which the team rallies and saves the pitcher a loss or gives the pitcher a Win with tons of run support despite a poor outing. [Bradenton Herald]
  
• Jordi from The Serious Tip made a guest appearance at Bus Leagues Baseball and wrote about his recent experiences at a Rays game and a subsequent trip to Brevard Co. Manatees game. [Bus Leagues Baseball]
• A Mets blog laments the fact that the Mets won't be able to play the Rays this year. Not because they are easy wins, but because they are fun to watch. [Mets Walkoffs]
• A Cubs fan jumps on the Rays bandwagon and we welcome them with open arms and a beer. [Cobra Brigade]
  

THE GOOD: We know the numbers and we know there are other players that need playing time, but we hope that it kills Papa Joe Maddon to keep Jonny Gomes on the bench when he does. The first run of the game was all-Gomes. Started with a single, after which he stole second off of a lefty and then scored on a 2-out single by Dioner Navarro. He would later steal third base just before scoring on Jason Bartlett's triple and moved to third in the 7th inning on a pitch in the dirt that barely got away from the catcher. He would score during that at bat on a ground out...Speaking of Jason Bartlett's triple, how often are you happy when a player can't get a bunt down? Bartlett appeared to be attempting a safety-squeeze in the 4th, fouling off one attempt and pulling back on the second pitch. He would then hit a triple to left-center that would score 2....A solid game from Evan Longoria. The opposite field double off the top of the wall in the 4th was a good sign as it was only his 3rd hit this season off a lefty. He also started a huge double play in the top of the 6th to quell a Yankees rally that had 2 runners on with only 1 out. Dirtbag gets rid of the ball faster than any third baseman we ever remember and his throws to second base are pinpoint.

THE BAD: Knowing that Jonny Gomes has to sit against righties. We understand. But we don't like it.

THE TELLING: Cliff Floyd sat against the lefty while Jonny Gomes got the start at DH and Eric Hinske got the start in right...The Rays will have to earn tonight's victory. Edwin Jackson takes the mound for the Rays while the Yankees will counter with their Ace, Chien-Ming Wang...The Rays remain 1 game up in the loss column over the Angels in the Wild Card standings. The Rays are 3 games up on the next teams, Baltimore and Cleveland.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• Don't forget to VOTE for Carl Crawford to start the all-star game. If you haven't voted yet today, go NOW! For those that haven't done it yet, once you have voted for the first time, it takes a matter of seconds to vote a second time. The ballot stores all your info. So you have ZERO excuses. C'mon, let's make sure C.C. is in NYC in '08. VOTE OR DIE! [MLB All-Star Voting]
• We will have the Rays Index Live Blog-A-Baloo on Wednesday night for game 3 of the Yankees series, with James Shields going against Mike Mussina. The Live Blog-A-Baloo will be held right here.
  
• Anybody want to take bets on what substances Her Rays was under the influence of when writing their post-game recap? Not that there is anything wrong with that. Much of the best writing in history was done "under the influence". Just ask fans of the Beatles or Hunter Thompson. [Her Rays]
• Jonny Damon said that the scoreboard gun that had Matt Garza at 92-93 last night, must have been low. [New York Times]

Before we knew it, he was jamming us and making us pop out. That’s what happens when you’re late on the fastball, and it seemed like we were late all day. It just seemed like we couldn’t catch up to it.

• Ben Zobrist has been activated from the DL with Andy Cannizaro being DFA'd...Ahh Andy Whatever-your-name-is. We hardly knew ya. [Rays Report]
• Alex Rodriguez will not play in this series...Also, Marc Topkin says that Al Reyes could be activated as soon as today, although there is no clear indication who will be let go. Scott Dohmann and Gary Glover seem like the only options to be removed from the roster. Both are out of options, meaning they would have to be DFA'd. Of course, we could see another "Willy Aybar" injury by tomorrow afternoon. That is Dohmann or Glover could come down with a mystery ailment that would normally keep a player out for a week or so, but still need to go on the DL, just in time for a needed roster move and 2 months later, they are still MIA...Just sayin'. [The Heater]
• Gary Shelton says the Rays are not "fluky" and are here to stay. [St. Pete Times]
  
• Yet another positive piece on the Rays in the New York Times...That is 2 this season and 2 more than the Yankees have had. [New York Times]
  
• Here is a neat graph that compares payrolls to performance. [Benfry.com]
• Always in love with the underdog, Joe Maddon said that if he were to name MVPs for the first month and a half, it would be JP Howell and Jason Bartlett. [MLB]
  
• An early proposal for a ballpark in St. Pete circa 1983, looks an awful lot like the new proposed waterfront stadium. [Ballpark Frankness]
• Seriously, this is getting a bit ridiculous. Yahoo! Sports has the Rays ranked 5th in their power rankings. [Yahoo! Sports]

Supposed to be that the Rays would do well generally, but struggle against the AL East powers. They’re now 15-11 against their own division.

• The Rays will make public their financing plan for the proposed waterfront stadium on Thursday. [Ballpark Frankness]
  

DRG here again to get you through the weekend. I can be reached here..

• The Good: The 2nd inning was Scott Kazmir's coming out party. In the 1st inning, Kid K'd fastball was only 88-89, much like it was in his first start off the DL. However, in the 2nd inning, Kazmir struck out Juan Rivera to lead off the inning with only one fastball that broke 88. That seemed to be the at bat that gave him his confidence back, because in the next at bat, threw four fastballs that were clocked at 92. He walked that batter, but from that point forward, Kazmir was consistently 92-93 with his fastball including his 108th, and last, pitch in the 6th which was 93.
  
• The Bad: Mimosas, Coronas and whatever that blue crap was.
  
• The Telling: Stuart Sternberg predicted 50 home win in 2007. We laughed. They won 37. 2008 came and Sternberg predicted 50 home wins again. Again we laughed. The Rays have now won 8 straight at home (a record) and now sit at 12-7 at home this season. Brace yourselves. The Rays are on pace for 51 home wins in 2008. I can't make it up...PS, the Rays are now in second place and 1 game back of wild card lead...PPS, take a look at those standings above and soak it in for a moment. The season is now 20% completed and the Rays are not only not in last place, but they are in 2nd place, ahead of the O's. Ahead of the Jay. And ahead of the Yankees.
  

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA...

• ManRay is baaaaaaaccccccckkkkkkkkk. [Armchair GM]
  
• James Shields and Joe Maddon discuss the possibility of Shields throwing a no-hitter. [Tampa Tribune]
  
• Marc Topkin says that the Rays have narrowed their top choce down to 5 players...Prof loves the high school shortstop Tim Beckham. Personally, I am starting to lean towards one of the two catchers. I know the Rays do not draft for need, but with Dioner Navarro behind the plate and no obvious catching prospects in the system (John Jaso is not a catcher long-term), I love the idea of drafting a high school catcher. But hey, what do I know. [St.