ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -A five-game winning streak, 12-0-1 in series over the past six weeks and the best record in baseball.
All summer long, the first-place Tampa Bay Rays have been hearing how difficult it’ll be to win in September, so they can’t think of a better way to enter the final month of the regular season.
They’re certainly not showing any signs of cracking under the pressure of a pennant race.
“There’s always these arbitrary or fabricated moments that everybody always wants to put weight on,” manager Joe Maddon said, rejecting the notion that his young team is about to find out what real baseball is all about.
“I want to avoid that,” he added. “I want this group to avoid that.”
A year after finishing with the worst record in the major leagues, the Rays not only are 33 games over .500 and on pace to win 100 games, but they’re playing so well that the big question now is not so much can they stay in front as can anybody catch them.
With a weekend sweep of Baltimore, Tampa Bay extended its lead in the AL East to a season-best 5 1/2 games over the Boston Red Sox. The third-place New York Yankees, who start a three-game series at Tropicana Field on Tuesday, trailed by 12 1/2 after play Sunday.
The Rays’ streak of 13 consecutive series without a loss since the All-Star break is the longest in the majors this season. And, they’ve managed to keep winning despite playing much of August without Carl Crawford, Evan Longoria and Troy Percival.
Nine different players have contributed game-winning RBIs since Crawford, Longoria and Percival went on the 15-day disabled list, helping the team go 14-5 without the trio since Aug. 10.
“Once we got a hold of this thing and felt like we could win, then we started to come together as a unit – not one individual,” designated hitter Cliff Floyd said. “Every single person in this locker room has contributed somewhere to a win. That’s what you need, 25 guys contributing, to win a championship.”
The 35-year-old Floyd is one of the veterans signed during the offseason to bring experience and leadership to a young team that was 66-96 in 2007 and had never won more than 70 games in a season until last month.
The Rays, who began play in 1998, clinched their first winning record in franchise history last week and have been in first place for 81 days this season, 63 more than during the club’s first 10 seasons combined.
The 2001 Phillies and 1991 Braves are the only other teams that have been in first place Sept. 1 or later after having the worst record in the majors the previous season, and Atlanta is the only one that finished on top.
From Day 1 of spring training, Maddon has been preaching an approach that he hopes will serve the Rays well down the stretch.
“You play the game the same regardless of the date of the year, regardless if it’s March 15 and you run the catcher over, or it’s July 15 and you’re playing somebody, or it’s October 15 and you’re in a playoff game,” the manager said.
“You get used to playing that way on a daily basis. Then as the season’s in progress and you get to the end of the year, you don’t have to try to do anything differently. Everybody keeps talking about big series and big games. They’re all the same. When you treat them with the same respect, you have your best chance of winning the most games.”
Since dropping a season-high seven in a row to lose a five-game lead and trail Boston by a half game at the All-Star break, Tampa Bay has gone a major league-best 29-12 to keep the defending World Series champions in chase mode.
“We control our own destiny,” pitcher Matt Garza said. “We’re a leg up right now, we’re in the driver’s seat and we’ve got them six more times. So, we’re just going to keep playing day by day and let September take care of itself.”
The schedule is not easy, though. In addition to six games with Boston, the Rays face the Yankees six times and play three against Toronto and four against Minnesota, two other teams in with winning records.
“These guys understand where we’re at. It’s no turning back now. There’s no running away from what we’re doing. It’s here. It’s here to stay,” Floyd said.
“We’ve got to believe that and know that we’ve got to be men now. We’re not boys. We’re not young guys. We’re men. When you say that, you’ve got to step up to the challenge.”
Maddon, noting the team has thrived because of pitching and defense, is confident the Rays will.
Tampa Bay ranked last in runs allowed, ERA and opponent’s batting average in 2007, but is second in each of those categories this year. The bullpen is fourth in ERA (3.40) after being (6.16) a year ago.
Five pitchers – Garza, Scott Kazmir, James Shields, Andy Sonanstine and Edwin Jackson – have at least 10 victories, and shortstop Jason Bartlett has solidified a defense that’s committed the third-fewest errors in the majors after ranking 27th last year.
“He is candidate for MVP of this team,” Maddon said of Bartlett, who was acquired – along with Garza – from Minnesota in an offseason trade.
The Rays also have a knack for generating just enough offense to get the job done.
Carlos Pena has 13 homers since the All-Star break and matched his own club record for RBIs in a month with 29 in August. But more often than not, it has been role players such as Floyd, Eric Hinske, Gabe Gross and Willy Aybar taking turns providing the heroics.
“We’re an anonymous group, and we’re playing in a non-anonymous way right now,” Maddon said. “Guys are just .250 hitters. But my God, you (always) think they’re going to come through. … It’s fun to watch.”
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