It’s not a mistake in the standings. The Tampa Bay Rays are leading the American League East.
Tampa Bay has won six straight and 11 in a row at home. Sure it’s only mid-May, but the Rays are off to the best start in franchise history and enjoying every minute of it.
“It’s great to be here, and a big part of it is the confidence derived from it,” said Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon after the Rays 2-1 victory in 11 innings over the New York Yankees on Tuesday night. “Nobody’s cocky or complacent. Everybody’s coming to the ballpark with the right attitude.”
The win, coupled with Boston’s loss put the Rays a half-game ahead of the Red Sox in the division. It’s the first time Tampa Bay has sat alone atop the standings beyond the first week of a season.
“I’ve been around a long time. It’s early, but I love the way we’re doing it by not giving in to anyone,” veteran closer Troy Percival said. “We’re winning close games against good teams. The way we’re fighting, you can see it’s not a fluke.”
At 23-16, the Rays are seven games over .500 for the first time in the team’s 11 seasons. They’ve finished last nine times in the past decade.
“They’re pitching better. They’re making some plays, and they run,” said Yankees closer Mariano Rivera, who gave up his first run of the season to suffer the loss. “They do all the little things. But the most important thing is they’re pitching.”
In other games on Tuesday night it was: Cleveland 4, Oakland 0; Baltimore 5, Boston 4; Kansas City 3, Detroit 2; Toronto 5, Minnesota 3; Texas 5, Seattle 2; and Los Angeles 2, Chicago 0.
The Rays were two outs away from victory when Hideki Matsui hit his first homer since April 15, a stretch of 57 at-bats, into the right-field seats off Percival to send it to extra innings.
Even though the closer couldn’t hold the lead, he walked off the mound feeling the Rays were in good shape.
“I was thinking this team has the heart to come back and win,” he said. “Don’t give up another run.”
Rays starter Edwin Jackson scattered five hits over seven innings before leaving a 1-0 lead to the bullpen.
“I said before the series, they’re a very good team,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “They’ve improved every year. They’ve worked hard getting people in here, and they’ve done a good job.”
Indians 4, Athletics 0
At Cleveland, Paul Byrd and two Cleveland relievers combined for the Indians’ fourth shutout in seven games with a victory over the Athletics.
Byrd (2-3) allowed five hits over 7 1-3 innings, striking out seven without a walk.
The right-hander extended the Indians’ scoreless streak to 34 innings by their starting staff. The last run allowed by a Cleveland starter came Friday night in the fifth inning against Toronto by C.C. Sabathia – the only run yielded by an Indians starter in the last 39 innings.
Travis Hafner singled home a first-inning run off Justin Duchscherer (3-2) and Ryan Garko hit a three-run homer off Andrew Brown in the eighth.
Rafael Perez retired the only Oakland batter he faced and Masahide Kobayashi worked the final 1 2-3 innings for his first save. The 33-year-old right-hander, signed as a free agent in November, had 227 saves over the last eight seasons in Japan.
Orioles 5, Red Sox 4
At Baltimore, Luke Scott homered and had three of Baltimore’s 11 hits off Josh Beckett, and the Orioles received a fine pitching performance from Jeremy Guthrie in a victory over the Red Sox.
Guthrie (2-3) allowed three runs, two earned, and eight hits in six-plus innings.
Beckett (4-3) gave up five runs in 5 2-3 innings.
The Red Sox were without manager Terry Francona, who will miss the two-game series following the death of his mother-in-law. He was replaced by bench coach Brad Mills, now 5-4 when subbing for Francona.
Royals 3, Tigers 2
At Kansas City, Mo., Jose Guillen drove in a pair of runs to help the Royals rally to beat the Tigers.
With the game tied 2-2 in the eighth inning, Guillen doubled with two outs off Francisco Cruceta (0-1). Esteban German ran for Guillen. After Billy Butler walked, Mark Teahen had an infield single, but Edgar Renteria committed a throwing error on a backhanded flip to second base, allowing German to score an unearned run.
Leo Nunez (3-0), the third of four Kansas City pitchers picked up the victory. Joakim Soria worked a perfect ninth to earn his ninth save.
Blue Jays 5, Twins 3
At Minneapolis, Matt Stairs homered and scored twice for the struggling Blue Jays’ offense in Toronto’s victory.
Lyle Overbay and former Twin Shannon Stewart each had two hits, including RBI-doubles, for the Jays, who scored at least five runs in a game for just the second time in the last 10 games.
Carlos Gomez and Jason Kubel hit solo homers for Minnesota, but reliever Dennys Reyes was charged with his first earned run of the season after a so-so start from Kevin Slowey (0-3).
After scoring 27 runs in taking three of four from the Red Sox over the weekend, the Twins took a big step back against Jesse Litsch (5-1) and the Jays.
Rangers 5, Mariners 2
At Arlington, Texas, Ramon Vazquez drove in the go-ahead run with a sixth-inning sacrifice fly and the surging Rangers beat Seattle.
Vazquez went deep in the 10th inning Monday night to give the Rangers a 13-12 victory over the Mariners in the opener of the three-game series. He finished with two RBIs in the second game as Texas won for the 12th time in 14 games.
Josh Rupe (2-1) allowed one hit in 1 2-3 scoreless innings and Eddie Guardado pitched the ninth for his first save since Aug. 12, 2006, for the Cincinnati Reds.
Felix Hernandez (2-4) gave up three runs and six hits in six innings.
Angels 2, White Sox 0
At Anaheim, Calif., Jered Weaver and two relievers combined to pitch a three-hitter as the Angels beat the White Sox.
A.J. Pierzynski’s leadoff single in the fifth was the only hit off Weaver, who pitched seven innings. The right-hander struck out six and walked one. He was 1-4 with a 7.02 ERA in his previous six starts.
Scot Shields (2-0) pitched one inning for the win and Francisco Rodriguez got three outs for his major league-leading 16th save.
Octavio Dotel (1-2) took the loss.
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