THE GOOD: The Red Sox lost...The Yankees lost...The Orioles lost...So the only team that the Rays lost ground to last yesterday was the Jays. Oh and the O's are now in their rightful place, last place...

THE BAD: Shaun Marcum faced the minimum through the first 6.2 innings. The only hit prior to the 9th inning was a double single by Dioner Navarro in which he was promptly thrown out at second base because people that chubby should only sprint 90 feet at a time....For the second game this series, the Rays struck out at least 10 times, led by the Sombrero-loving Carlos Pena. Three nights ago it was a regular sombrero with 3 Ks in 4 at bats, Two nights ago it was the golden sombrero with 4 Ks in 4 at bats. And last night it was a regular sombrero again with 3 Ks in 4 at bats...We are still trying to figure out how Vernon Wells caught up to and actually caught Aki Iwamura's long drive to center in the 7th...We know it was only 1 run in 6.2 innings, but we are not giving Matt Garza credit for a 'good'. We can't quite figure it out, but he either walks too many or strikes out too few. Maybe both?

THE TELLING: We like to call this a "tip your cap" game. When the baseball gods gathered yesterday morning and reviewed yesterday's matchups they declared that the Jays would win. At that point there was just nothing that the Rays could do. It was predetermined. For you Maddon players out there, it is like when you are rolling through a season and your Bucs squad sits 10-0 and all of the sudden the computer opponent goes into "49ers Dynasty Mode" in which it can do nothing wrong and you can do nothing right. Your undefeated team is guaranteed to fumble at least two kickoff returns that will both be returned for touchdowns, and no matter how many of your "sure-thing" plays you run, nothing goes right. Sometimes, when the gods speak, it is not in your favor.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• Our apologies for the lack of Live Blog-A-Baloos. They will return with full-force next week. Not sure what day yet. Any suggestions? And next week's will be held here.
• Joe Maddon and Carlos Pena had a closed-door meeting that lasted for 20 minutes following last night's game. During the meeting, which was heated at times, Maddon threatened to bench the slugger if he didn't pull his head out of his ass...Oh, who are we kidding. This is Papa Joe we are talking about. They hugged it out and Papa Joe sang El Gato sweet nothings, and told him some tales of lollipops and daffodils. [Rays Report]
• More injury updates from Marc Lancaster: Ben Zobrist had his first rehab start for Vero Beach. He DH'd and went 1-3...Cliff Floyd played in another extended spring game as a DH and should rejoin the team within a week...Willy Aybar also played DH in the same game but is still a ways off. Which begs the question: Why is he playing in an extended spring game, if his hamstring is no where near ready to come back? Is there more to his injury?...Al Reyes and Gary Glover played catch (we assume Reyes played the role of 'Dad'). Reyes has a bullpen session scheduled for today, while Glover will do the same on Saturday...Scott Kazmir had "spectacular" command in his bullpen session yesterday. [Rays Report]
  
• Bugs & Cranks wonders if Joe Maddon was trying to bait the Jays fans with his comments of their booing of Eric S#!tske. [Bugs & Cranks]
• And Drunk Jays Fans, proprietor of the aforementioned nickname, S#!tske, are a little perturbed that there is a chance that Eric Hinske does not know why he is being booed in Toronto...For the record, we understand. But we also love that the Toronto fans are fanning the fire that is Eric S#!tske, because right now? Hinske is The S#!tske. [Drunk Jays Fans]
• The Strike Zone sees Andy Sonnanstine as a strong candidate to win 20 games. [The Strike Zone]
• Jays fans didn't take losing to Andy Sonnanstine too well. [primoz forever]
• One blog takes a shot at the upcoming auction at the Trop for "extraordinary baseball experiences"...We gotta admit, they are pretty ridiculous. Also, the name of the website It Is High, It Is Far, It Is...caught is pure awesome. For those not familiar, it is a reference to John Sterling, Yankees broadcaster/blowhard and his home run call, which he uses for anything approaching the outfield wall. And it doesn't matter if the home run was actually a line drive that just cleared the fence. He will still use the same idiotic call...P.S. The slogan for the website is "The road to the New York Yankees' 27th World Championship". Might as well have made that the name of the site, because the "road" is going on 8 years and it does not look like the number is changing anytime soon. [It Is High, It Is Far, It is...caught]
  

THE GOOD: Getting a last place team after having been swept by the Sox.

THE BAD: Getting the last place Toronto Blue Jays who are clearly better than their record and have actually won 5 in a row.

THE TELLING: Three games with the Jays, none of which will be started by a pitcher named James Shields or Scott Kazmir.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• We use a lot of nicknames here on Rays Index and we receive the occasional email asking what a nickname means or where it came from. In response, we have now added a nickname database in the sidebar under the Cork-Board. Are there any we are missing? [Tampa Bay Rays Nicknames]
• Marc Lancaster has a big scoop with his latest piece: "For Pitchers, Arm Injuries An Occupational Hazard"...He is already working on his next piece, "The Earth Is Round". [Tampa Tribune]
• And not to be outdone, Marc Topkin has the headline "Rays' best may be yet to come"...Gee. Ya think? We would certainly like to think that a team that has never won more than 70 games or finished higher than 4th, has better days ahead than just a .500 record. If not, We might as well pack up shop and move to Oshkosh and root for the Cheese Herders. [St. Pete Times]
• Some Jays fans are starting to believe their own hype. Of course, we like the Rays chances with Eric Hinske on our side. Considering the love fest they have for Hinske (they have nicknamed him S#!tske)...we have a feeling the prodigal son is going yard twice in this series. [Drunk Jays Fans]
  
• The Rays dropped to 14th in The Sporting News power rankings. [The Sporting News]
• Were you wondering what Evan Longoria did on his off-day? No? Too bad, we'll tell you anyway. Dirtbag live-blogged an NBA playoff game that may or may not have featured his brother-in-law. [Bugs & Cranks]
  
• Brian Stokes is back in the minors for the Mets as a starter and to say he is struggling is an understatement (Thanks Jordi). [MetsBlog]