THE GOOD: The Bullpen in general and Gary Glover and Jason Hammel specifically. Yes Hammel gave up the walk-off home run, but we thought the game was over when both Glover entered the game in the 9th and when Hammel came on in the 12th. The two combined for 4.2 innings with only 1 run on 3 hits and no walks. At some point they were going to give up a run and they did a great job of holding the Pirates at bay as long as they could.

THE BAD: The offense. From the 9th inning on, the Rays were 1-14 with 4 strike outs and no walks. Only two batters reached base: Evan Longoria with a 2-out single in the 9th and James Shields who reached on an error while pinch-hitting with 2 outs in the 12th.

THE TELLING: With Aki Iwamura starting his 3-game suspension, BJ Upton batted leadoff, Evan Longoria moved up to the 3-hole and Willy Aybar started at second base for the first time since 2006. Upton finished 1-5 with a walk...The Rays missed an opportunity to move back into first place as the Red Sox lost to the Astros.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• Don't forget to VOTE for Carl Crawford to start the all-star game. If you haven't voted yet today, go NOW! [MLB All-Star Voting]
• Aaron Sharockman spoke with Matthew Silverman about the Rays stadium proposal and the future of baseball in the bay area. [St. Pete Times]
• Marc Topkin writes about the Rays and all the trade rumors circulating recently. [St. Pete Times]