White Sox 5, Devil Rays 3.
2008...2008...2008...We still don't know what to think about this team. We braced ourselves for what we knew would be a trying season. The team was talented, but it was very young, which means we knew they would be inconsistent. The team still had enormous holes in the bullpen which means we knew they would struggle late in games. The rotation had several stop-gaps, just waiting for an influx of talent which means there would be many games in which the bullpen wouldn't have a chance to blow the lead.

But then along came James Shields and BJ Upton and Al Reyes and Carlos Pena and Brendan Harris. Out were Jae Seo and Casey Fossum and the headache named Elijah Dukes. And we saw the team playing well. We saw the team coming from behind late in games. We saw strong performances from the starting pitchers and we have seen lots of home runs and at times we have seen good defense. Our hopes are rising.

But as good as the Rays have looked this season, would you be surprised that after 76 games the Rays have the exact same record in 2007 that they had last year? They do.

We can see the greatness coming. But it is not here yet. And that folks is frustrating as hell.

We just need to keep reminding ourselves that this is not about 2007. This is about 2008. Right?

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• Anybody out there think the Rays still should have given Julio Lugo $8 million a year? Anybody?
  
• Julio Lugo ($9 million): .191/.256/.285 (4 HR, 20 SB, 9 errors)
• Brendan Harris ($386K): .311/.369/.483 (8 HR, 2 SB, 7 errors)
• Carl Crawford is bracing himself for another All-Star snub. However, it is different this year. In years past, Crawford was snubbed because he was a relative unknown on an unpopular and bad baseball team. Crawford is no longer an unknown. Rather, Crawford is well-known, but his stats are not living up to the hype this season.
  
• BJ Upton and Shawn Riggans are both close to returning. Upton could be back this weekend. The team has yet to give Riggans a timetable for a return.
  
• The Extrapolator extrapolates on Delmon Young. Just don't watch the video clip.
• Before last night's game, Delmon Young was hitting .331 in his last 38 games. He leads AL rookies in hits, extra-base hits and RBI.
  
• Don't look now, but Josh Wilson has started four straight games. The Rays record in those four games? 1-3. We're just sayin....