THE GOOD: The loss of Carl Crawford and Evan Longoria to the DL was relieved a little on Sunday when Rocco Baldelli was activated from the DL and made the start in right field. He played the first 5 innings, before being replaced by Gabe Gross. It was Rocco's first game since May of '07 and he drove in a run, going 1-4...The Rays now have a 95.9% chance of making the playoffs. That is a big number folks. At the other end of the spectrum, the Yankees now have a 6.0% chance at a playoff slot. They have dropped 13.7% in the past week. We love a world in which the Rays are in the playoffs and the Yankees are not.

THE BAD: A Monday without "The Hangover". You can file your complaints at JetBlue.com.

THE TELLING: Willy Aybar will be the starting third baseman tonight and Justin Ruggiano will get the start in left...Sunday's win, the Rays' 71st of the season, set the franchise record for wins in a season...The Rays magic number to clinch a playoff berth is 40.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• Carl Crawford, placed on the DL this weekend with an injured finger, had his finger examined by a hand-specialist. The Rays are expected to know more today. There are some concerns that he could be lost for the rest of the season. [MLB]
• Evan Longoria was placed on the DL with a broken wrist after being hit bay a pitch last week. Initial x-rays were negative. A second-opinion revealed the break. He is expected to be out 2-3 weeks. [MLB]
  
• Scott Kazmir made an adjustment to his mechanics that he hopes will help with his delivery tonight. [St. Pete Times]
• The injuries to Carl Crawford and Evan Longoria certainly pose a challenge for the Rays, but trips to the DL are nothing knew for this squad and Andrew Friedman notes that the Rays did not get where they are this season because of any one player. [Bradenton Herald]
• Martin Fennelly has a column about how tough the loss of Carl Crawford and Evan Longoria is going to be on the Rays...Does anybody else have a tough time reading Fennelly when he writes a column with 25 1-sentence paragraphs? We always get flashbacks to 9th grade English and bad poetry. [Tampa Tribune]
• Last month David Ortiz predicted that the Rays lack of experience would catch up to them. This month he is singing a different tune. [Boston Herald]
  
• Marc Topkin feels that a decision has already been made for David Price to be promoted to the Rays at some point this season. The question now is only whether he will be a starter or a reliever. Topkin notes that if Price is used as a starter (Price's preference) it could anger players in the clubhouse if Edwin Jackson or Andy Sonnanstine need to be bumped from the rotation. [St. Pete Times]
• Larry Stone of the Seattle Times compares the '08 Rays to several other teams that enjoyed sudden success after years of losing. [Seattle Times]
  
• Chad Bradford finally arrived to the Rays clubhouse in Seattle on Saturday afternoon after a whirlwind few days of cross-country flights. [Tampa Tribune]
• Joe Maddon speaks about altering his approach this season to how he handles his players both behind the scenes and in the public eye. He notes that this year the team is in a position where he can make a difference with a more critical, disciplined approach. [Tampa Tribune]
• A blogger interviews Cliff Floyd. [Eli's MLB Rumors]
  
• Baseball Digest Daily calls the Rays one of "10 Things To Watch for the Remainder of the 2008 MLB Season." They are the only team on the list. [Baseball Digest Daily]
• Marc Topkin has some notes about the '09 schedule (opening day, interleague, etc.). [St. Pete Times]
• Mike Francesa of "Mike and the Mad Dog" in New York City, has been dismissive of the Rays all season, saying that he wouldn't acknowledge the Rays until August. One blogger wonders why Mike is still not talking about the Rays. [Mike and the Mad Blog]
• Brittany Ghiroli tells how Grant Balfour only stumbled upon baseball as a child in Australia and says his fire and emotion come from his homeland and his father. [MLB]
  

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: Getting on base in the bottom of the 7th inning. The inning started with 2 walks and a hit-by-pitch. Another HBP with Aki Iwamura at the plate drove in a run. That was followed by Carl Crawford's second career grand slam, making it 6-3 and effectively killing the rally. Stupid home runs. That is, except it didn't. These are the Rays and they are magilicious. BJ Upton followed with a triple and then an Eric Hinske double scored another run. Hinske stole third and scored on an Evan Longoria sac fly to make it 7 runs in the 7th...The bullpen got the last 8 outs of the game without allowing a run and without the availablity of Troy Percival and JP Howell, the Rays two most important relief pitchers.

THE BAD: Carl Crawford was thrown out trying to steal by 10 feet to end the 1st inning. This seems to be happening a lot with CC and BJ Upton...The Rays had first and third with only 1 out in the 5th and were unable to score...James Shields uncharacteristically broke down in the 7th inning after cruising for the first 6 innings. Shields does not usually give up leads late in the game. But 2 doubles and a walk led to 3 runs scoring in the inning and the Rays falling behind 3-1...Will somebody please tell Joe Magrane to stick to baseball and leave the jokes and the math AND especially the jokes about math to others. When talking about Hall of Fame pitcher Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown, Magrane "joked" that by reason, Antonio Alfonseca (who has 6 fingers on his pitching hand) should be "50% better" than Brown. Of course, 6 is 100% more than 3, not 50%. You could just feel Dwayne Staats tense up in awkwardness.

THE TELLING: Evan Longoria got his first career start at shortstop after Jason Bartlett fouled a ball off his foot in batting practice and had to be scratched from the lineup...The Rays lead in the wild card is now 3.5 games. Unfortunately, it is no longer the A's that the Rays are looking down at. It is the Yankees. Look for this to be the race for the rest of the year. Three team for two spots...This was the 9th straight home series win for the Rays after starting 1-3. On the road they are 4-4-3...The attendance last night was 34,441 and they averaged 32,515 for the 3-game set. We will let somebody else do the legwork, but we are going to assume that this is a record for a non-Yankees, non-Red Sox 3-game series...

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]
• Didn't mention this earlier in the first post of the day, but Tim Beckham's signing bonus is a record for a drafted player. [The Heater]
  
• Matt Garza met with a well-known baseball psychologist at the request of Joe Maddon. [Tampa Tribune]
• Outs Per Swing has visual evidence that the Rays have been squeezed in the strike zone on several occasions. [Outs Per Swing]
  
• In this breakdown of the Rays-Cubs matchup, Baseball Prospectus shows that defensively Evan Longoria has already been worth one win over a replacement-level player, while Dioner Navarro's defensive have improved drastically into one of the better defensive catchers in the game. Also, Jason Bartlett actually has a below average range factor this season. Certainly his throwing problems early in the season plays a factor, but reader Scott brings up a good point. Might a gold glove-caliber third baseman and/or second baseman lower the range factor of a shortstop by getting to balls that Bartlett would have otherwise reached? We have to wonder if that would be particularly meaningful on balls hit in the hole betwen second and third where the third baseman kinda has "first dibs" being closer to the plate. [Baseball Prospectus]
  
• John Romano breaks down why the Rays can no longer be considered a fluke. [St. Pete Times]
  
• One blog breaks down the 3-team race in the AL East by looking a little closer at each of the contenders. [No Regard]
• Bugs and Cranks is not at all pleased with Edwin Jackson's taste in...movies? [Bugs and Cranks]
• The above link is in reference to an SI.com piece in which baseball players are quized on pop culture. [SI]
• Bud Selig did not dance around his feelings about the Trop and the Rays need for a new stadium. [Ballpark Frankness]
• Ken Rosenthal says that the Rays are one of several teams to express interest in Freddy Garcia who is a free agent and recovering from shoulder surgery...We have no doubt that the Rays are interested, but if a "bidding war" begins, as Rosenthal predicts, that is when their interest will cease. [Fox Sports]
  

With the Red Sox loss last night, the Rays pull even with Pink Hat Nation in the loss column. The Rays still maintain their 2 game lead in the Wild Card race over the A's.

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]
• The Rays still have not received official word as to when Edwin Jackson will begin his suspension, which will likely be either tonight or Thursday (at the conclusion of James Shields' suspension). Tonight is also the last game of Carl Crawford's suspension with Aki Iwamura to begin his tomorrow. [St. Pete Times]
• "No one could have imagined the Cubs-Rays series would be a possible World Series preview"...Those are the Chicago Tribune's words. Not ours. Reading that and something comes to our mind. Something about a "cart" and a "horse"?? [Chicago Tribune]
  
• The Cubs are just the latest good team to face the Rays. They will be the fourth series of the last six that featured a team in first place and 26 of the Rays last 28 games have been against a team with a .500 record or better. [Tampa Tribune]
• In addition to the first to the Trop for former Devil Rays manager Lou Piniella, tonight's game also marks the first return to the Trop for the Devil Rays original manager Larry Rothschild, who is now the Cubs pitching coach. [St. Pete Times]
• Lou Piniella said that if he had stayed with the Devil Rays for another year or two, he probably wouldn't be the managing today. [Southtown Star]

''I was crazy enough to think I could win anywhere with anything,'' said Piniella, who won two World Series rings as a player in New York and another as a manager in Cincinnati. ''Not crazy, but confident in my ability...At that time, you go on a road trip to New York, Boston and Toronto, and if you win one game in each city, it's a good trip,'' Piniella said. ''From a professional standpoint, I wasn't prepared for that. I'd won everywhere I'd been. I didn't enjoy the losses. And it wasn't going to get any better, so I got out.''

• Gerry Hunsicker was on The Show with Rob Dibble and Kevin Kennedy and talked about making deals at the trading deadline...Hunsicker said "...deals arent easy to make, atleast significant deals and you’re probably going to have to overpay regardless of what you get because of the supply and demand factor..." Overpaying is not something the Rays ever want to do, so don't expect any major deals from the Rays before the trading deadline. [MLB on XM]
  
• Cubs f/x breaks down the pitchf/x of Scott Kazmir. [Cubs f/x]
  

THE GOOD: Give us a second....hold on....nope. We got nothin'.

THE BAD: Losing 2 hours and 55 minutes of our lives that we will never get back.

THE TELLING: The Rays drew 79,393 fans for the 3-game series against the Marlins. Last year, the Rays drew only 56,123 for the Marlins series in late May. That is an increase of 41.4% that cannot be entirely due to a Saturday night concert and a Sunday Father's Day crowd. In fact, Friday's attendance of 19,312 bested the Friday night game last year by more than 6,000.

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]
• Joe Maddon is not overly concerned about Edwin Jackson's recent struggles. [Bradenton Herald]
• Oh, but Martin Fennelly is. Fennely thinks the Rays should win every game, because one loss is apparently reason to panic...Believe us, winning is nice and it is a nice change to expects victories, but can we avoid the Yankees and Mets' mentality of thinking that one loss is the end of the world? As the old baseball adage goes...Sometimes you win, Sometimes you lose, Sometimes it rains (ok, maybe that doesn't work so well at the Trop) [Tampa Tribune]
  
• Ken Griffey Jr's agent denies that his client is considering waiving his no-trade rights for a chance to play with the Rays. [MLB]
• Marc Lancaster finally comments on the buzz of Ken Griffey Jr.-to-the-Rays...Being last to the table is becoming an old habit for Lancaster. [Tampa Tribune]
  
• As the roster stands right now, Evan Longoria is the Rays' backup shortstop. However, barring an injury to Jason Bartlett, Dirtbag won't be seeing any playing time there anytime soon, thanks to the number of off-days in this current stretch of games. [Bradenton Herald]
• Lou Piniella will rotate some of his regulars into the DH slot when the Cubs play the Rays. [MLB]
  

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]
• Why go against the odds? Before this series we predicted that Joe Maddon would not be ejected during this series despite having 3 of his 7 career ejections against his former team. We thought the Rays had enough drama on this roadtrip and Papa Joe wouldn't want to add to it....Sure enough. Papa Joe was ejected yesterday. That is his 8th career ejection and 4th against the Angels, which is amazing considering the Rays have only faced the Angels 23 times with Maddon as manager. [The Heater]
  
• The City of St. Pete released a 45-second 3-D video rendering of the proposed waterfront stadium. [Ballpark Frankness]
• Jonny Gomes served the last day of his suspension and James Shields has dropped his appeal and will now make his next start on June 19th versus the Cubs. When he returns, the Edwin Jackson will begin serving his suspension and the Rays will need a spot-starter on June 21. [St. Pete Times]
• Rocco Baldelli played in his final extended spring game, going 0-5. He may be ready to join Vero Beach for a rehab assignment. [AP]

"This is probably the first time since the beginning of spring training where I actually felt that I was going to be coming back and playing," Baldelli said after going 0-for-5 as the designated hitter in his final extended spring training game on Wednesday. "We're going to sit down and decide what the next step is. Hopefully go out and get some (at-bats) on some kind of rehab assignment."

• Brittany Ghiroli notes that the Rays-Marlins interleague matchup matters for the first time. [MLB]
  

THE GOOD: Evan Longoria, Willy Aybar and Dioner Navarro. Not only did they hit back-to-back-to-back and belly-to-belly-to-belly home runs in the 2nd inning for the first time in franchise history, but the trio went a combined 9-13 with 3 doubles, 4 home runs and 9 RBI...The Rays managed only 2 walks, but they made starter Joe Saunders work all night. Not even able to finish the 5th inning, Saunders threw 102 pitches, or more than 4 pitches per batter he faced...The Rays scored all 5 runs in the 5th inning on 2 outs...Edwin Jackson. This is why we couldn't feel too bad after Troy Percival blew 2 of Jackson's wins earlier this year. Jackson did not have his best stuff last night, but got plenty of run support and picked up a W he didn't earn. Jackson's biggest moment was facing the Angels top of the order in the bottom of the 5th after the Rays gave him the lead. That is easiest time to let up and let a team back into the game. Jackson put them down 1-2-3 on just 8 pitches.

THE BAD: We knew it was late, when in the 9th inning, we were actually considering that Dioner Navarro needed a triple for the cycle. When the lateness was conbined with enough beer, we actually yelled at Navi to "RUN!" when he hit a ball down the right field line only to realize as he was rounding first base that he is still "The Fat Catcher".

THE TELLING: According to the Angels radar gun, Edwin Jackson was still hitting 99 in the 6th inning...BJ Upton only had to work a half-day, working as the DH with Justin Ruggiano playing center field...The Rays extended their lead over the A's in the wild card to 3.5 games, 6 over New York, Toronto and Baltimore.

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]
• There were no fines or suspensions or even reprimands given out by the Rays to Matt Garza or Dioner Navarro after their scuffle on Sunday. Joe Maddon says everything has been worked out and Navi will catch The Garza Complex in his next start on Saturday.
• Probably not a coincidence that every team Cliff Floyd joins goes from perrenial losers to winners, and often the change is overnight. We are fairly certain that Andrew Friedman and Co. were aware of this. And this is why we call him Dr. Huxtable, due to his calming influence of the younglings...Of course, a Devil's Advocate would say those teams were all on the verge and Floyd is often considered a "final piece of the puzzle" and just happens to join these squads when they are about to break out. [MetsBlog]
  
• Rocco Baldelli was 1-4 in his latest extended spring game. He is expected to participate in one more and then he will likely join Vero Beach for an extended rehab assignment. [St. Pete Times]
• The future Mrs. Evan Longoria? [armchairgm]
  

THE GOOD: 8, 13, 12, 13, 20, 14, 10. That is how many pitches Scott Kazmir threw in each of the first 7 innings for a total of 90. That allowed Kid K to come out for the 8th inning. Only one inning with 15 or more is a very good sign. Kazmir averaged 17.5 pitches per inning in '07 and was at 16.2 pitches per inning this season, prior to last night...Rays batters walked 4 times and struck out only 5 times against one of the better starting pitchers in baseball. In the Red Sox series the Rays struck out 28 times in 3 games with only 8 walks.

THE BAD: BJ Upton did hit a home run and Carl Crawford had a rare triple, but the top 4 batters in the lineup were only a combined 3-19.

THE TELLING: Evan Longoria's home run in the 5th inning landed in the club-level, an area that had only been reached 13 times previously. It was fun watching the left fielder take one step back and then realize it was wasted effort...

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• In case you missed it yesterday, Rays Index is now on Twitter. [Rays Index]
  
• 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]
• The suspensions were handed for Thursday night' brawl. James Shields (6 games), Jonny Gomes (5), Edwin Jackson (5), Carl Crawford (4) and Akinori Iwamura (3). The suspensions are staggered so that the Rays will not be without more than 1 position player and 1 pitcher at a time. However, Shields and Gomes were start their suspensions last night, but chose to appeal. The other will likely do the same when their suspensions are set to begin. Three Sox were also suspended including Jon Lester (5 games), Coco Crispy (7) and Sean Casey (3). [St. Pete Times]
• With off-days before and after the Marlins series, the Rays will be able to rework the rotation so that only one emergency starter is needed (most likely Jason Hammel) despite losing 2 starting pitchers to suspension. [MLB]
  
• Bugs & Cranks has a video clip showing the heated history between the Rays and the Red Sox. Of course the one not mentioned is the unprovoked punch by Julian "I am crazeeee" Tavarez thrown at Joey Gathright in spring training. [Bugs and Cranks]
• Bugs and Cranks purveyors of all Devil Rays videos, also has CooCoo Crisp's postgame comments. [Bugs and Cranks]
• Rays the Stakes wrote an open letter to CooCoo Crisp. [Rays the Stakes]
• Troy Percival will be ready to come off the DL when he is eligible on June 13, while Carlos Pena will need more time than his June 19 return date. [St. Pete Times]
  

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

• The Good: Andy Sonnanstine scattered 8 hits over 8 innings and only allowed 1 run on a solo home run in the 8th. Sonny only had 2, 1-2-3 innings (1st/7th), but managed to avoid any serious trouble.
  
• The Bad: Andy Sonnanstine gave up a solo home run in the 8th in a 3-0 game. Really not that bad, except why did it have to be Shelley Duncan's brother?
  
• The Telling: The home run off of Andy Sonnanstine was the first allowed by a Rays' starting pitcher since May 2nd.
  

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA...

• Her Rays likes Andy Sonnanstine's package. What? Too far? [Her Rays]
• Rob Neyer points out that the Rays run differential shows that the Rays record is about right where it should be. [ESPN]

Not only are the Rays in first place, they're in first place on merit, as their +25 run differential is slightly better than that of the Red Sox (+23). Everybody else in the division -- Orioles (-7), Blue Jays (-1) and Yankees (-6) -- is bunched up around .500, exactly where they should be. In fact, what's often so striking about run differentials, even this early in the season, is just how closely they correspond with the actual records. Of the 14 teams in the league, only the Angels are more than two wins off their "expected" record ... and the Angels are three games off. No sleeping giants here (at least not according to runs, though the Yankees' history might suggest otherwise).

• A Red Sox fan was rooting for the Yankees in the Yankees-Rays series? My eyes deceive me! [Wicked Good Sports]
  
• Minor League Ball takes a hindisght look at Edwin Jackson, the prospect. [Minor League Ball]
• Bugs & Cranks is looking for your best Devil Rays haiku. [Bugs & Cranks]
• Loud Mouth of the South takes a look at what the AL All-Star squad might look at if the game were held this week. They predict two Rays, Carl Crawford and James Shields. Not sure how they can leave Troy Percival off. Yes he has two blown saves, but he is the anchor of one of the best bullpens in baseball and he has a WHIP of about 0.500. And then there is Dioner Navarro. Sure he missed two weeks, but can a manager keep him off the squad if he is still hitting .370? [The Loud Mouth of the South]
  

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: Andrew Friedman. Every single move this guy has made in the last year has been pure gold. Even the moves he did not make. There were lots of rumors this off-season of trading Edwin Jackson. In particular, the hope was to get a catcher back in return. Instead, Friedman stuck with Jackson and Dioner Navarro. The non-move may have been the best move of all...Edwin Jackson. His shutout streak now sits at 15 innings. In his last 2 starts: 15 ip, 11 hits, 2 walks, 8 strike outs, 0 runs. Only 2 walks?!? Seriously. If we hadn't seen it, we wouldn't believe it. He also seemed to get better late in the game. The 6th inning may have been the best pitched inning of Jackson's career. With the Yankees top of the lineup up, he got Jonny Damon to ground out. That was followed by a misplay by Eric Hinske in right that turned a single into a triple for Der-ek Jet-er *clap-clap, clap-clap-clap*. With a runner on third and 1 out in a 1-run game, Nuke got Bobby Abreu to ground out to the drawn-in Jason Bartlett and then got Hideki Matsui to pop-up to end the inning. Then in the 7th, the last batter he faced was Shirley Duncan. After 5 straight non-fastballs, he came back with his hardest fastball of the night at 97 to get Duncan looking...Anytime a team gets to Mariano Rivera it is a 'Good', but the double play enduced by JP Howell to end the top of the 11th may have saved the game.

THE BAD: Eric Hinske turning a single into a triple in the 6th inning of a 1-run game. That is not the sort of thing Joe Maddon wasnt to see with Gabe Gross sitting on the bench. In fact, Gross replaced Hinske an inning later...Troy Percival owes Edwin Jackson a steak or two. That is the second straight outing in which Jackson did not allow a run and Percival blew the save.

THE TELLING: Edwin Jackson was not throwing as hard as usual. Normally, Jackson's fastball sits 91-95 with the ability to crank it up to 97-98. Last night, his fastball was regularly 88-90. This happens to pitchers occasionally, but with Jackson, it appeared to be deliberate. This could be yet another golden move by pitching coach Jim Hickey, to get Jackson to ease up on the fastball a bit for the sake of location...Eric Hinske got the start in right field instead of Gabe Gross, against the right-handed pitcher. Of course, that might not happen again after the 6th inning blunder.

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! Bored at work? VOTE OR DIE! [MLB All-Star Voting]
• This is the typical reaction of a Yankees fan: "Matt Garza is not as impressive as he seemed". In other words. It is impossible for a Yankees fan to conceive of a universe in which other teams beat the Yankees. Rather the only logical explanation is that the Yankees lost. We guarantee that this is a Yankees fan that is less than 30 years old and clearly does not remember a time when the Yankees used to lose on a regular basis and were considered one of the laughingstocks of baseball. When New York City was actually a Mets town...Winning is NOT a birthright. [Yankee Rage]
• Even the New York Times gets in on the fun: "Taking advantage of slumping Yanks..." because apparently the Rays can't beat the Yankees unless they are slumping. Like we said before this series, the Rays are probably going to have to sweep the Yanks to get their attention. [New York Times]
• One blogger thinks the Rays' celebration was over-the-top...Another Yankees fan we presume. If this was a Rays team that was 8 games back and they were playing the Royals, then we might tend to agree, but to criticize a young team for enjoying the game of baseball is ridiculous. And in a division where every game could be the difference between the playoffs and an early vacation, then beating the Yankees and Mo Rivera in the 11th inning with a walk-off win, is plenty worth celebrating. [The Sports Hernia]
  
• Baseball Analysts takes a closer look at the numbers and comes to the conclusion that the Rays are for real. [Baseball Analysts]
• The Big Lead tried to tackle the question of whether or not it matters the size of a team's payroll...We have said this before. A team can win with a low payroll, but the room for error is less. If the Yankees lose a $14MM player, they go get another one. If the Rays lose one of their top paid players, they fill the hole with Nathan Haynes or JK Ryu. [The Big Lead]
  
• Let's not get too excited about the report that Rocco Baldelli took batting practice. 1) He took BP off of Aki Iwamura's interpreter; 2) This is not new, he has taken batting practice several times since being shut down; 3) Everything Rocco said about new tests and results just sounds like doctors trying to keep their patient optimistic; 4) the last statement may be the most telling: "I’m hoping that some of the medications that I’m taking are going to help me get on the field for an extended period of time without having the problems that I had. That’s kind of the next step, is just trying new things and experimenting. It’s like trial and error, and hopefully one of them works.”The key words are "hoping", "trial and error" and "hopefully". [Rays Report]
  
• It is hidden behind the "Insider" wall but Buster Olney praises the work of Andrew Friedman and co. He goes on to list 12 moves that the Rays have made in the past year that have turned golden. [ESPN]

[I]n the last year, Rays general manager Andrew Friedman and the Tampa Bay baseball operations staff has pitched the front office version of a perfect game, in keeping with a long-range plan that was begun long before that. Virtually every transaction that the Rays have made, going back to last year's June draft, has worked out, and contributed to Tampa Bay's strong start and ascension, for the first time, into the ranks of contenders.

• David Chalk has some choice words for the Rays' PR Department. [Bugs & Cranks]