Rays Around The Horn

Rays Still At Work On 2010 Team: Crawford Option Excercised

Working out a deal to keep Carl Crawford in a Rays uniform is a no brainer. Carl could play anywhere in this league. But it is about time the Rays decided to retire someone as a lifetime player. Crawford could be that guy. It is a shame they let Greg Zaun go. I felt like he contributed greatly to the success of the Rays a various points of the season when the pitchers got shaky. But hey, keeping Crawford on this team is far more important. Anyway, here is the skinny. Go RAys!

Rays claim Reds' Ramirez, part ways with Shouse, Zaun

ST. PETERSBURG -- Predictably, the Rays exercised their $10 million option for the 2010 season on left fielder Carl Crawford on Monday.

The Rays declined the 2010 options on left-handed relief pitcher Brian Shouse and catcher Gregg Zaun, while claiming right-hander Ramon Ramirez off waivers from Cincinnati.

Crawford, 28, is the longest-tenured player in Rays history and the club's all-time leader in hits, at-bats, runs, stolen bases, triples, games played and RBIs. Last season he hit .305 -- his fourth season batting .300 or better -- with 15 home runs, 68 RBIs, 96 runs scored and a career-high and club-record 60 stolen bases.

An eight-year veteran, Crawford ranks fourth among active players with 362 career stolen bases and ranks third with 92 triples. Through his first 1,000 games he totaled 341 stolen bases and 87 triples -- numbers matched only by Hall of Famer Ty Cobb through 1,000 games.

If the Rays do not sign Crawford to a new deal either before the 2010 season or during it, he can become a free agent next fall.

"Carl's a big part of what we have accomplished and what we will accomplish in the future," said Rays executive vice president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman. "Obviously, the question everyone wants to know is what does the future mean? And I don't think anyone can answer that. I think both sides are very interested. Which is a great starting point.

"We won't be giving a blow-by-blow account. But I think it's safe to assume that at some point we will have conversations about possibly extending the contract even further. But for right now, this insures he'll be with us in 2010 and whether it's something this offseason or next, we'll certainly do what we can to keep Carl in a Rays uniform as long as possible."

Had the Rays exercised the option on Shouse, he would have been paid $1.9 million in 2010. He will receive a buyout of $200,000. Zaun would have been paid $2 million and will receive a buyout of $500,000.

Ramirez, 27, posted a 3.65 ERA in 11 games out of the bullpen for Cincinnati in 2009 during two separate big league stints. At Triple-A Louisville, he was 6-7 with a 4.03 ERA in 20 starts and 11 relief outings. He also represented his native Venezuela in the 2009 World Baseball Classic.

"Ramon's a guy in limited time in the Major Leagues has had a lot of success, he's got an average fastball, a pretty good slider and an above-average changeup that we like against both right-handers and left-handers," Friedman said.

"For the most part, his experience is as a starting pitcher, but we envision him as a future bullpen arm. And our scouts have done a great job of identifying him as a guy whose stuff can play up coming out of the bullpen."

Ramirez also has a remaining option, which allows the Rays some roster flexibility.

Shouse, 41, appeared in 45 games for Tampa Bay in 2009, going 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA. He held left-handed hitters to a .224 batting average. The lefty specialist has been pitching professionally for 20 seasons, including parts of 10 seasons in the Major Leagues. He owns a career record of 13-10 with a 3.72 ERA.

Zaun, 38, was acquired in a trade with the Orioles on Aug. 7. In 30 games with the Rays he batted .287 with four home runs and 14 RBIs. Despite not exercising Zaun's option, Friedman made it sound like the club is leaving the door open for the veteran catcher to return to the team.

"Zauny did a great job for us in the two months he was with us," Friedman said. "By us declining his option right now is by no means indicative of our future plans. We're just not ready in the beginning of November to commit to what we're going to do.

"We've had great dialogue with his agent, Dan Evans, and have expressed our interest in him going forward. But it's pretty premature to do much more than that, because there are so many unanswered variables."

Bill Chastainis a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Two "Old Goats" Battle In Game 6 Of World Series

NEW YORK— Andy Pettitte against Pedro Martinez, with the Yankees one win from ecstasy. Now that's a World Series matchup worth talking about. Still stalking that elusive 27th championship, New York turns to Pettitte once again in Game 6 on Wednesday night, hoping he can pitch his team past Chase Utley and the Philadelphia Phillies on only three days' rest.

"I think everybody knew it was going to be a great Series. I think everybody knew it was going to be a tough Series. And it looks like it's living up to that," Pettitte said Tuesday.

His familiar foe is pumped up, too. Martinez and Pettitte have faced each other six times on the mound _ but never with the stakes so high.

"Two old goats out there doing the best they can and having fun with it," Martinez said. "I don't have enough words to describe how excited I am about being here. This is just a great gift to me."

After wasting a chance to wrap things up in Game 5 at Philadelphia, the Yankees set their sights on clinching at home. They'd love to christen their $1.5 billion ballpark with a World Series crown in its first season and give a seventh title to 79-year-old owner George Steinbrenner.

They've got two chances to do it. Game 7 would be Thursday night in the Bronx, if necessary, with ace CC Sabathia pitching for New York _ also on short rest.

"People expect us to be great all the time. We just need to be great tomorrow night," Johnny Damon said.

Coming off an 8-6 victory Monday night that trimmed their Series deficit to 3-2, the defending champion Phillies took the train to New York on Tuesday afternoon, a ride that takes a little more than an hour. They chose not to work out at Yankee Stadium, but their opponents did.

Martinez and Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel showed up at the ballpark for news conferences. Manuel was uncertain whether All-Star center fielder Shane Victorino would be able to play in Game 6 after getting hit in the right hand with A.J. Burnett's 95 mph fastball Monday night.

If Victorino can't go, Ben Francisco would likely start in center.

Riding Utley's homers, the Phillies are trying to become the first team to rally from a 3-1 World Series deficit since the 1985Kansas Cityey's homers, the Phillies are trying to become the first team to rally from a 3-1 World Series deficit since the 1985 Kansas City Royals _ and the first NL club to win consecutive championships since the 1975-76 Cincinnati Reds.

To do it, Philadelphia might need Ryan Howard to break out of his untimely slump. The big slugger is batting .158 (3 for 19) with 12 strikeouts, tying the Series record set by Kansas City's Willie Wilson in 1980.

Utley, however, is doing more than his share. His five home runs matched the mark set by Yankees Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson in 1977.

"We have left a lot of pitches in the middle of the plate," New York catcher Jorge Posada said. "We probably need to make him feel a little bit more uncomfortable."

If the Yankees have a late lead, look for Mariano Rivera earlier than usual.

Second-year manager Joe Girardi confirmed that he won't hesitate to use his well-rested closer for multiple innings Wednesday.

"I'm not worried about my legacy," said Girardi, trying to guide New York to its first title in nine years.

Pettitte and Martinez first squared off 11 years ago, but they've never done so in the postseason. Both pitchers are 3-3 in six matchups, all games between the Yankees and Red Sox from 1998-2003. The visitor has won each time and Martinez has a 3.86 ERA to Pettitte's 5.88, according to STATS LLC.

With so much on the line this time, it's a delicious matchup of gritty pros in their late 30s, long past their primes. The forecast calls for temperatures in the mid-40s at game time, with no rain.

"It's going to be a great game to watch," Yankees outfielder Nick Swisher said. "It's a great place to close it out."

The 38-year-old Martinez pitched well in a Game 2 loss at Yankee Stadium and now gets the ball on regular rest for the first time since mid-September. He's had several long layoffs since.

"I've got no choice but to expect that it will help me. I feel really good," he said.

The 37-year-old Pettitte, on the other hand, will have only three days between starts for the first time since Sept. 30, 2006, with Houston. According to STATS, the savvy left-hander is 5-7 with a 4.18 ERA in 18 such outings during his career, including the postseason.

"I really don't think there's that big of a difference," Pettitte insisted. "I think just mentally people make such a big deal about it because it's just not done very often anymore."

Pettitte has worked on extra rest in his past eight starts dating to Sept. 11, but he has a knack for closing this time of year. He owns 17 postseason wins and five that ended series _ both big league records. Two of those clinchers came in the AL playoffs this year.

Pettitte is 3-0 with a 3.24 ERA in four starts this postseason, including a Game 3 win at Philadelphia. No wonder the Yankees have plenty of confidence in him when it comes to big games.

"We've got a lot of guys who have been through this before," Sabathia said. "Hopefully, that experience will carry us through."

Martinez, who sat out the first half of the season and signed with the Phillies in mid-July, will be trying to push the Series to a seventh game for the first time since 2002.

"I think he's ready. I think he's kind of peaking at the right time," Manuel said. "Yeah, he's capable of throwing a really good game".

Rays Star Near Unanimus As Star Left Fielder

By Bill Chastain / MLB.com

ST. PETERSBURG -- Carl Crawford's fielding is finally getting some recognition.

The talented Rays left fielder won the Most Valuable Player Award for the 2009 All-Star Game after making a game-saving catch, now he has won the 2009 Fielding Bible Award for left field in The Bill James Handbook 2010. This is Crawford's third Fielding Bible Award.

A panel of 10 experts, including James, Peter Gammons, Joe Posnanski, and John Dewan, author of the new Fielding Bible Volume II, chose Crawford with a near unanimous vote.

In granting the award to Crawford, Dewan wrote: "This was no contest. No player has ever won with a perfect record [10 first-place votes from 10 panelists], but Carl came as close as possible with nine first-place votes and one second. That's 99 points. [The best previously was 98 points by Adam Everett at shortstop in 2006.] If Crawford doesn't win his first Gold Glove this year, I'm going to throw up."

Officially announced annually on Nov. 1, the Fielding Bible Awards attempt to name the single best fielder at each of the nine positions in the Major Leagues.

National League players were chosen at three positions, American League players at five, and Jack Wilson, who played in both leagues, was the selection at shortstop.

The 2009 Fielding Bible Award winners are Crawford, Wilson, Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols, Blue Jays second baseman Aaron Hill, Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, Mariners center fielder Franklin Gutierrez and right fielder Ichiro Suzuki, Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina and White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle.

Bill Chastain is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

CC Sabathia faces Scott Kazmir in game 4 of ACLS

ANAHEIM, Calif.— The American League championship series resumes today in Anaheim, with the New York Yankees sending 19-game winner CC Sabathia against the Los Angeles Angels' 10-game winner, and former Tampa Bay Rays star Scott Kazmir. The National League series between the Phillies and the Dodgers has the day off.

Yesterday, the Angels posted their first American League Championship Series victory with a comeback 5-4 win in 11 innings over the New York Yankees in Game 3. Jeff Mathis hit a two-out double that scored Howie Kendrick from second base to cut the Yankees' series lead to 2-1.

The winning hit came off Alfredo Aceves, the eighth Yankee pitcher of the night. Aceves retired the first two batters in the 11th before Kendrick started the rally with a single and Mathis ended it with his double to deep left.

The Angels took advantage of a collapse by the Yankees' usually reliable bullpen. Second-year Yankee manager Joe Girardi used seven relievers after starter Andy Pettitte allowed three runs in six and a-third innings. But Joba Chamberlain allowed the go-ahead run in the seventh. Closer Mariano Rivera threw away a bunt in the 10th, but got out of a none-out, two-on jam. Then Aceves gave up back-to-back hits after two were out in the 11th.

The Yankees hit four solo home runs. Derek Jeter led off the game with a homer. Alex Rodriguez, Johnny Damon and Jorge Posada also went deep. Kendrick homered and also had a triple for the Angels. Vladimir Guerrero had two hits and drove in a run for the Angels.

Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Phillies are one victory from going to the World Series for the second straight year after rallying with two runs in the bottom of the ninth to shock the L.A. Dodgers 5-4 for a 3-1 series lead in the National League Championship Series.

Jimmy Rollins was the Phillies hero. He delivered a two-out, two-run double off Dodgers closer Jonathan Broxton for the walkoff winner for the defending World Series champs.

With one out, pinch-hitter Matt Stairs started the rally with a walk. Carlos Ruiz was hit with a pitch. After Broxton got the second out, Rollins hit a line-drive double in the right-center gap that sent the crowd at Citizens Bank Park into delirium. Rollins was just 2-for-14 with one RBI in the NLCS before his big night.

Ryan Howard hit a two-run homer in the first and tied Lou Gehrig's major league record of eight straight postseason games with at least one RBI. Gehrig drove in runs in eight consecutive games for the New York Yankees during the 1928 and 1932 World Series.

After an off day, Cole Hamels will start for the Phils in Game 5 tomorrow night in Philadelphia. The Dodgers will go with either Vicente Padilla or Clayton Kershaw. The Phils have won 10 of their last 11 postseason games at Citizens Bank Park.

How Can You Not Love This and Wish The Best For The Twins

Here ya go Uncle Leonard. Hey, there Father-in-law Boyd. I told you I would root for the Twins. It's time for Minnesota to rise to the top in MLB and the NFL. C'mon. I have been waiting over 45 years for this. Let's get'em eh??

http://www.rr.com/sports/topic/article/rr/2010/9143566/Casillas_hit_in_12th_lifts_Twins_over_Tigers/full/

Rays Bring Season To Close With Loss and Expectations for the Future.

Even though the Rays finished the season with a loss,and 19 games behnd the AL East Champion New York Yankess, their 84-78 record is still only the second time in franchise history the team has had a winning season. And to top it all off, back to back seasons. There are a lot of things to build on for the 2010 season and I am sure the management team is already working on that. Until then, it's time to rest, reflect on what could have been, and get ready for the April shower of baseball that will soon be back upon us.

Have a great off-season Rays fans and I hope to be able to blog for you again soon. Tune in from time to time when I will be letting you know about the rumor mill, possible trades, and draft picks. Until then, "Keep it BLUE!"

Slow start, tough finish frame Rays' 2009

Club unable to recapture magic of '08 pennant winners

By Bill Chastain / MLB.com

ST. PETERSBURG -- And they looked so good on paper ...

Unfortunately for the Rays, a year after winning the American League East and advancing to the World Series, they found out there is quite a difference between looking good on paper and being a championship team.

"It's pretty disappointing," James Shields said. "We had some high hopes for this season. To end our season the way we did, it's not us. We have got to get better. We've got to reassess what we did this season and try to get better next year."

When the Rays left Port Charlotte, Fla., at the end of Spring Training, they looked far more solid than the previous year's AL championship team. Unfortunately for Tampa Bay, some of the players brought in to improve the club did not produce. The most notable of these being designated hitter Pat Burrell, who banked a two-year, $16 million deal, then fell far short of expectations. In addition, there were regular players such as Dioner Navarro and B.J. Upton, whose performances were less than inspiring.

But no one player can be blamed for a 2009 season in which the team seemed out of sync from the beginning. Foreshadowing a season to come, the Rays finished April with a 9-14 record, then spent the rest of the season trying to make up for their less-than-auspicious beginning.

"I really believe with a better April, we would have shown better toward the end here," manager Joe Maddon said. "I think if you're in a better position toward the end, you're going to find that energy that you need, where at least you're even or close.

"We found out as we constantly tried to fight from behind that it's difficult to catch up and then surpass because there's so much energy involved in catching up itself. The lesson to be learned from this year, hopefully for all of us, is the importance of getting off to a good start."

Following its dismal 9-14 April, Tampa Bay posted a 16-14 mark in May before the club finally seemed to hit its stride in June with a 19-7 mark. At this point of the season, the Rays seemed to be turning around their fortunes. But they finished July with a 12-12 record, leaving them six games behind the division-leading Yankees.

While Tampa Bay continued to tread water in August, posting a 15-12 record, New York put its foot down on the accelerator, expanding its lead over the defending AL champs to 11 1/2 games.

Once September rolled around, the Yankees had pretty much locked up the division title by the time the Red Sox came to Tropicana Field for a three-game set. Boston, which held a four-game lead over Tampa Bay in the AL Wild Card race at that time, proceeded to take two out of three to expand its lead to five games and trigger a 1-10 start to September for Maddon's club.

In essence, the Rays followed their inspiring 2008 with another quality season, but the chemistry never seemed to come about to produce the same magic seen in '08.

"We have to come out here and earn it every day," Carl Crawford said. "Play hard every day and not just assume because of who were are, or what the media says, that we're going to go out there and beat the other teams. We have to go out there and do it. We have to learn from this experience. Next year we have to come ready to play all of the games."

Record: 84-78, third place in AL East

Defining moment: Even though 12 1/2 games separated the Rays from the first-place Yankees in the AL East when the sun rose on Sept. 1, they still had a chance to enter the postseason as the AL Wild Card. What happened over the next 16 days dramatically changed all of that, as Tampa Bay experienced an 11-game losing streak and lost 14 of 16.

During that difficult period, the Rays were outscored, 92-50, and the team quietly dropped out of the race.

What went right:The Rays hit for power, setting a new single-season club record for home runs, and several players had great offensive seasons, including Crawford, Evan Longoria, Ben Zobrist, Jason Bartlett and Carlos Pena.

In addition to the Rays' power, they put on a demonstration of speed on a nightly basis that made them one of the most feared teams in the Major Leagues when it came to disruptions on the basepaths.

They received a real boost to the starting rotation from rookie starters David Price, Jeff Niemann and Wade Davis, who appear to be headed for regular duty in future rotations for Tampa Bay.

Once again, the Rays enjoyed a large advantage at Tropicana Field, where they enjoyed one of the best home records in baseball.

What went wrong: While the Rays were capable of scoring a lot of runs, they scored their runs in clumps, which translated to a lot of runs on some nights and few runs on other nights.

Much of that problem could be pinpointed by the fact Rays hitters faced a collection of starters in the AL East unmatched by other divisions. But more than anything, the element of timely hitting was missing when compared to 2008, when walk-off wins seemed to be a daily occurrence.

The bullpen experienced a hot streak during the middle of the summer, when Tampa Bay seemed to play its best baseball. But ultimately, the bullpen seemed to run out of gas at the end of August and struggled for the remainder of the season.

Finally, the Rays did not play well on the road, winning just 32 of their 81 games away from St. Petersburg.

Biggest surprise:Niemann went to Spring Training and had to win a competition with Jason Hammel for the fifth spot in the rotation.

Not until the day before the Rays were scheduled to open the season at Boston did Niemann find out that he had won the competition. Subsequently, Hammel was traded to Colorado.

After getting rocked in his first start of the season, in Baltimore, Niemann continued to improve in the starts that followed, including the team's first complete game of the year, on June 3 against the Royals when he won, 9-0.

By the end of the season, Niemann had proven himself as a legitimate member of the rotation.

As Season Draws Down, Biggest Need For Rays Is On The Coaching Staff

I have tried to do what I could to be supportive of the Rays organization. But I believe for this team to grow the off-season changes need to be more to the bench coaching staff than to the players involved. There have been way too many bad pitching changes and hitting issues to put it all on player decisions. Time to invest some of that rusty old money in some good instructors and motivators. C'mon Man!

Rays' offense quiet in loss to Orioles

Garza allows three runs in six innings, denied ninth win

By Bill Chastain / MLB.com

ST. PETERSBURG -- Baltimore snapped its 13-game losing streak with a 3-2 win over Tampa Bay on Thursday night in front of a crowd of 10,716 at Tropicana Field.

By losing, the Rays saw their winning streak end at four games, as they fell to 82-77 with three games remaining in the season.

Nick Markakis' RBI single off Rays starter Matt Garza drove home Cesar Izturis to give the Orioles a 1-0 first-inning lead.

Melvin Mora and Jeff Fiorentino each had RBI singles in the fourth to push the Orioles' lead to 3-0.

Ben Zobrist got the Rays on the scoreboard with his 27th home run of the season, a solo shot in the fourth off Orioles starter Chris Waters that cut the lead to 3-1.

Rays May Not Be Going Back To The Show, But The Future Look Bright

I've had plenty to complain about this year with the Rays pitching in disarray, as well as some questionable management calls. But these guys have proven that even under the most dire of situations they can fight through it and get their heads back up. I believe these guys will have a lot to offer the competition next year if they can manage to stay together in the off-season, as well as tweak the lineup just a smidge with some better clutch hitting and an ace out of the bullpen. But only time will tell. Until then, sit back and support these guys through the last few games as they try to secure only the second winning season in Rays history.

Positives abound for Rays in victory

Davis, Crawford and Upton highlight win over Orioles

By Alden Gonzalez / MLB.com

ST. PETERSBURG -- Two years ago, a season like this would've been a cause for celebration. Then that magical 2008 Rays team came along and introduced a new breed of expectations for this franchise -- the type that made anything short of back-to-back postseason berths seem like a disappointment.

Although the 2009 Rays won't be defending the American League championship they claimed a season ago, and even though they'll finish behind the powerhouse Yankees and Red Sox in the division, the positives are there.

Some of them were on display Tuesday night, when Carl Crawford continued to put the finishing touches on arguably his best season with his franchise-record 60th steal and Tampa Bay moved closer to securing a winning record for just the second time in franchise history.

But nothing seemingly offered more reassurance than the performance of Wade Davis.

The rookie right-hander took the rotation spot of Scott Kazmir after Kazmir was dealt to the Angels, and in this outing, Davis continued to show he could be a key cog in the Rays' rotation next year by holding the Orioles to just one run in seven innings during Tampa Bay's 3-1 win in front of 10,349 at Tropicana Field.

"Unbelievable," said B.J. Upton, who provided another positive by contributing one of his most complete games of the season. "I think there's a lot more to come. He's been impressive in the starts that he's had. He had one rough game, and obviously that's expected. But other than that, he looks great."

Tampa Bay isn't looking too shabby right now, either.

The Rays have won three consecutive games and eight of their past 11, and they need to win just one of their next five games to finish above .500 for the second year in a row.

But none of that matters in their clubhouse this season.

"Talk to any one of our guys, none of us can watch TV right now," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "I can't watch SportsCenter, watch MLB Network and I can't read the papers. I'm really soured by the fact that we did not get back, because I truly believe that we could have.

"But I like what we're doing right now, actually. It speaks a lot for the culture that we've created. We easily could've mailed all these games in and [acted as though] the season is over, we don't care. I see a bunch of guys going out there playing to win every night, and actually we're playing some of our better baseball right now."

Not many have been pitching better than Davis.

The 24-year-old's first Major League win came on a four-hit shutout against the Orioles on Sept. 17. In the second game of this four-game series, Davis ran his pitch count to 58 by the end of the third inning, but he retired his final 11 batters and finished giving up seven hits and three walks on 106 pitches to get the win.

"Doesn't surprise me," Maddon said. "Doesn't surprise me that he's able to maintain his composure and do those things. I am certain that he'll be able to do that in the future also."

Davis is 2-1 with a 3.45 ERA, and if you take away an eight-run outing against the Red Sox on Sept. 12, his ERA would sit at 1.25.

"Bad early, better later," is how Davis summed up his outing. "I started pitching to contact. Instead of trying to get good outs, I was trying to get them off-balance and get them looking. ... Just tried a couple of different things, and it worked."

"He does what you need to be successful at this level, and that's throw the ball hard," added Orioles manager Dave Trembley, whose club has dropped 12 consecutive games, the most in the Major Leagues this season and tied for the third-longest skid in club history.

The Rays took a 2-0 lead on Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie in the first inning, when Ben Zobrist hit an RBI double and Willy Aybar followed with an RBI single. After Guthrie had retired 11 of his previous 12 batters, Reid Brignac hit a one-out triple in the seventh and came home on Upton's deep sacrifice fly to give Tampa Bay an insurance run.

"He looked very comfortable and good tonight," Maddon said about Upton, who also doubled in his first game at the leadoff spot since Aug. 2.

The Rays also turned in two key defensive plays.

In the first inning, Gabe Gross gunned down Ty Wigginton trying to score from second on a single to right field by Matt Wieters. Then, in the top of the seventh, Upton turned in the play of the night when he sprinted towards the gap in deep left-center field and made an over-the-shoulder basket catch on a shot by Jeff Fiorentino.

"That was a great catch -- one of his better catches I think I've seen," Maddon said. "He's playing in, there's two strikes, breaking ball, left-hand hitter that you don't expect to hit the ball far to that part of the ballpark, and he outran it. It was beautiful."

Upton had a much simpler explanation.

"Hard-hit ball in the gap," he said. "I just never gave up on it, and I made the catch. Not much more I can say."

Rays Begin Rebuilding Even Before The 2009 Season Ends

As I have said before, I could really get on the bashing bandwagon and fuss and complain about the Rays, but being a realist, I know how good their opposition is, as well as how young this team is. These guys have some growing to do. And with a few good off-season bullpen moves, the Rays could be in line to challenge for the division title again in 2010. We will see how it all pans out. Until then, here is the latest from www.raysbaseball.com.

ST. PETERSBURG -- Two years ago, a season like this would've been a cause for celebration. Then that magical 2008 Rays team came along and introduced a new breed of expectations for this franchise -- the type that made anything short of back-to-back postseason berths seem like a disappointment.

Although the 2009 Rays won't be defending the American League championship they claimed a season ago, and even though they'll finish behind the powerhouse Yankees and Red Sox in the division, the positives are there.

Some of them were on display Tuesday night, when Carl Crawford continued to put the finishing touches on arguably his best season with his franchise-record 60th steal and Tampa Bay moved closer to securing a winning record for just the second time in franchise history.

But nothing seemingly offered more reassurance than the performance of Wade Davis.

The rookie right-hander took the rotation spot of Scott Kazmir after Kazmir was dealt to the Angels, and in this outing, Davis continued to show he could be a key cog in the Rays' rotation next year by holding the Orioles to just one run in seven innings during Tampa Bay's 3-1 win in front of 10,349 at Tropicana Field.

"Unbelievable," said B.J. Upton, who provided another positive by contributing one of his most complete games of the season. "I think there's a lot more to come. He's been impressive in the starts that he's had. He had one rough game, and obviously that's expected. But other than that, he looks great."

Tampa Bay isn't looking too shabby right now, either.

The Rays have won three consecutive games and eight of their past 11, and they need to win just one of their next five games to finish above .500 for the second year in a row.

But none of that matters in their clubhouse this season.

"Talk to any one of our guys, none of us can watch TV right now," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "I can't watch SportsCenter, watch MLB Network and I can't read the papers. I'm really soured by the fact that we did not get back, because I truly believe that we could have.

"But I like what we're doing right now, actually. It speaks a lot for the culture that we've created. We easily could've mailed all these games in and [acted as though] the season is over, we don't care. I see a bunch of guys going out there playing to win every night, and actually we're playing some of our better baseball right now."

Not many have been pitching better than Davis.

The 24-year-old's first Major League win came on a four-hit shutout against the Orioles on Sept. 17. In the second game of this four-game series, Davis ran his pitch count to 58 by the end of the third inning, but he retired his final 11 batters and finished giving up seven hits and three walks on 106 pitches to get the win.

"Doesn't surprise me," Maddon said. "Doesn't surprise me that he's able to maintain his composure and do those things. I am certain that he'll be able to do that in the future also."

Davis is 2-1 with a 3.45 ERA, and if you take away an eight-run outing against the Red Sox on Sept. 12, his ERA would sit at 1.25.

"Bad early, better later," is how Davis summed up his outing. "I started pitching to contact. Instead of trying to get good outs, I was trying to get them off-balance and get them looking. ... Just tried a couple of different things, and it worked."

"He does what you need to be successful at this level, and that's throw the ball hard," added Orioles manager Dave Trembley, whose club has dropped 12 consecutive games, the most in the Major Leagues this season and tied for the third-longest skid in club history.

The Rays took a 2-0 lead on Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie in the first inning, when Ben Zobrist hit an RBI double and Willy Aybar followed with an RBI single. After Guthrie had retired 11 of his previous 12 batters, Reid Brignac hit a one-out triple in the seventh and came home on Upton's deep sacrifice fly to give Tampa Bay an insurance run.

"He looked very comfortable and good tonight," Maddon said about Upton, who also doubled in his first game at the leadoff spot since Aug. 2.

The Rays also turned in two key defensive plays.

In the first inning, Gabe Gross gunned down Ty Wigginton trying to score from second on a single to right field by Matt Wieters. Then, in the top of the seventh, Upton turned in the play of the night when he sprinted towards the gap in deep left-center field and made an over-the-shoulder basket catch on a shot by Jeff Fiorentino.

"That was a great catch -- one of his better catches I think I've seen," Maddon said. "He's playing in, there's two strikes, breaking ball, left-hand hitter that you don't expect to hit the ball far to that part of the ballpark, and he outran it. It was beautiful."

Upton had a much simpler explanation.

"Hard-hit ball in the gap," he said. "I just never gave up on it, and I made the catch. Not much more I can say."

Alden Gonzalez is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs

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