Above image is David Price throwing souvenir t-shirts to fans at a recent Nashville Predators game (thanks Lee).

Is he doing this from the ice? That sound you hear is the accelerated heart beats of every member of the Rays' front office.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA...

• Marc Lancaster takes a look at the recent list of players that were non-tendered and sees a few relief pitchers the Rays may be interested in bringing on board. [Rays Report]
  
• The Tampa Tribune is not shutting down their print operations despite rumors they will move to 100% online content in January. [Tampa Tribune]
  
• No surprise here. Aki Iwamura is on the World Baseball Classic roster for Japan. [Rays Report]
• The Rays single-A affiliate Charlotte Stone Crabs will unveil their new logo tomorrow afternoon. [Stone Crabs]
  
• Rays Digest takes a look at the top corner infielders in the Rays' farm system, including everybody's favorite, Burt Reynolds. [Rays Digest]
  

Click on above images to be taken to full standings, box scores or schedule...

THE GOOD: The Rays have been here before. July 18. Rays enter second-half losers of 7 straight. A loss out of the break and the season is over. The Rays win. September 9. Rays have lost 4 in a row including series opener in Boston. Lead in the AL East is down to half-game. Experts say one more (inevitable) loss and season is over. Rays win. September 16. Rays have lost 3 in a row and lead is down to percentage points. Experts say one more (inevitable) loss and the dream run is over. Rays win. Game 7 of the ALCS. The Rays have lost 2 in a row to the Sox and one more (inevitable) loss and the Rays go home. Rays win. It is now game 5 of the World Series. One more loss and the season is over. Of course, one more win and the Rays suddenly have home-field advantage in the World Series again...This must be killing the Red Sox and their Pink Hat Nation. They had to play the Rays while the Phillies somehow get the Devil Rays.

THE BAD: We don't know this team. Nothing is working in Philly. If it is just the Phillies playing well, then we tip our cap. But if it is because the Rays are playing tight then we would like to tip our foot up their asses...Andy Sonnanstine. Whether it be the 12-day layoff or the nerves of pitching in the World Series or a combination of both, Sonnanstine was not being Sonnnanstine. Of his first 14 pitches, 10 were balls. His 3 walks matched a career-high at any level. Of course the 6 hits in 4 innings is nothing new. We have always said, when Sonny is good, he can be very good. But when he is bad, he is very hittable. For Sonnanstine, he has to be near-perfect to get by with only a mid-80s fastball. Last night he was not...Edwin Jackson. Really? The pitcher? Jackson should be ashamed and embarrassed. And if he ever pitches in a Rays uniform again it will be too soon. The pitcher? *banging head on desk*...Joe Maddon. And why is Edwin Jackson in the game at all. Shit on top of shit is just more shit...The offense. 3 of the Rays 5 hits came from the 9-spot in the lineup...Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria. 0-29 with 15 Ks. Longoria is back to guessing. In the 6th inning he swung at a first-pitch breaking ball that was 6 inches outside. Instead of looking for pitches to attack, he has made up his mind to swing at anything and hope for the best...The Defense. 10 errors in last 8 games...Phillies leadoff hitters. On base 16 times in the first 3 games and they were on 4 more times last night.

THE TELLING: Cliff Floyd was removed from the World Series roster due to an injured shoulder and replaced by Eric Hinske...Ben Zobrist, or "The Good Christian" as Mrs. Professor likes to call him, got the start in right field over Gabe Gross, "The Shitty Christian" (The "Good" and "Shitty" of course refer to how she feels about their play, not their particular religious beliefs)...According to CoolStandings.com the Rays have a 13.5% chance of winning the World Series. According to the national media it is a 0.0% chance...After hearing the "Rocky" theme 36 thousand times last night, we are burning all of our "Rocky" DVDs today. Of course, we probably should have burned "5" a while ago.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA...

• Why is "lack of experience" suddenly a problem for the Rays? It wasn't a problem when they were playing in Chicago or Boston? And exactly how many current Phillies were on the 1980 and 1993 World Series teams? [USA Today]
  
• Joe Maddon spoke with the home plate umpire after the second inning about what he believed was pine tar on the cap of Joe Blanton. [MLB]
• John Romano says that the behavior of Phillies fans towards Rays family members and employees has been more suitable for a prison yard than a major league baseball game, going so far as to pour beer on a 9-year old boy...Stay classy Philadelphia. [St. Pete Times]
• Phillies fans were even throwing mustard packs at Joe Maddon's granddaughter...Strange. We expect better from Phi...Never mind. [LA Times]
• You can tell from Evan Longoria's quotes that he has no idea what he is doing right now. [Boston Herald]
• Jerry Crasnick takes a closer look at the struggles of Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria. [ESPN]
  
• Ken Rosenthal says the Rays hitters have lost command of the strike zone. [Fox Sports]
• Joe Smith takes a look at the rare errors committed by Akinoria Iwamura. [St. Pete Times]
  
• Gary Shelton says that even this is a lot to overcome for the Rays. [St. Pete Times]
  
• Who doesn't know what "WPA" is? Duh. Clearly the reason the Rays are losing the World Series is because they suck at wireless security. [DRays Bay]
• The Hardball Times takes a look at how both managers mismanaged game 3. [The Hardball Times]
• Just in case we didn't make it clear enough how awful Edwin Jackson was last night. [Sully Baseball]
• Joey Johnston takes a look at how the Rays bullpen handles hostile fans and each other. [Tampa Tribune]
  

Click on above images to be taken to full standings, box scores or schedule...

THE GOOD: Tough lefty? Carl Crawford is 9-19 (.474) in his career against Jamie Moyer. Carlos Pena is 10-20 (.500) with 3 doubles and 2 home runs. Matt Stairs (1-10) is the only Phillie that has ever faced Matt Garza, but is unlikely to face him tonight.

THE BAD: Having to explain to people that we will be late to a Halloween party because of the World Series even though they promise to have the game on. Don't care. We need to focus. This is too important.

THE TELLING: Forecast is now saying that the rain should have already passed by game time, with rain up until about 6pm and only 20% chance of rain during the game. You can get hourly updates here...The Rays were 6-3 in NL ballparks this season.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA...

• The Delaware News-Journal (Phillies country) compares the long-suffering fans of the Rays and Phillies and what this World Series means to each. The story includes some quotes from some Rays fans including some bloke named Cork Gaines. Wonder where they found that guy? [Delaware News-Journal]
• Peter Gammons compares the Rays and Phillies bullpens. Joe Maddon says the key to building a bullpen without a top-notch closer is to find 4-5 guys that are not afraid of pitching in the 9th inning and 4-5 guys that are capable of coming into a game, finishing an inning and then going back out to at least start the next inning. Interestingly, Maddon says he can see Jake McGee filling those needs once he comes back from Tommy John surgery. [ESPN]

Price obviously is going into the Tampa Bay rotation next season, but look for the Rays to take a big, hard-throwing lefty like Jake McGee -- who is coming off Tommy John surgery -- to try that role. Maddon says McGee throws harder than Price, and he sees McGee being used in important roles out of the pen once he learns how to pitch, sit and pitch again.

• Ahhh Phillies Fans. [Big League Stew-Video]
  
• Joe Maddon admits that the game is more difficult to manage without a DH. Bill Chastain also mentions that while Andy Sonnanstine and Scott Kazmir can handle a bat well, Matt Garza is a very poor hitter. [MLB]
  
• Paul White of USA Today says the ballpark is not nearly as important as the pitching matchups and the Rays have the advantage. [USA Today]
• The Rays relievers are going to have to deal with a raucous crowd near the bullpen. [LA Times]
• Ronald Blum takes a look at the Rays bullpen and notes that unlike most teams, the Rays' relievers do not have defined roles. [SI.com]
• Not a single Tampa Bay Ray was named to the Sporting News' American League All-Star team. [Halos Happenings]
  
• Carlos Pena calls Akinori Iwamura "one of the best players we've ever seen." High praise indeed. [Chicago Tribune]
  
• Piper Castillo takes a look at what is on Fernando Perez' nightstand. [St. Pete Times]
  
• Dueling Couches is none too happy that the media are talking about David Price so much. We are assuming they were just as hard on the media with Joba Chamberlain last year and Francisco Rodriguez back in 2002. Because apparently it is not impressive to record the final 4 outs of an ALCS game 7 win against the Red Sox and then record the final 7 outs of a World Series win. All after having started the year in single-A. [Dueling Couches]
• Despite solid game 1 numbers, game 2 received the second-lowest ratings ever for a World Series game. [Awful Announcing]
  
• Bob Verdi of the Chicago Tribune says this World Series is worth watching and that nobody need feel sorry for the fat cats running the television industry. [Chicago Tribune]
• A tour of Joe Maddon's office...Love the quote of about the wine and Joey Gathright. [VIDEO]
  
• Some pics of game 2 from a fan in the seats. [The Serious Tip]
• The success of the Rays has even boosted the local cigar industry. [Cigar Review]
  

Somebody at the 4-letter thinks the Red Sox will now pull off the greatest comeback in the history of baseball, coming back from a 4 games to 3 deficit. Well, Bristol is in the heart of Red Sox Nation. (Thanks Brett).

We have now watched the 8th and 9th innings about a dozen times. One thing we didn't notice last night was the incredible play that Aki Iwamura made on the final out. The ball takes a wicked (pun intended) hop and nearly goes over Aki's head. If he misses that ball, it is first and third and things are suddenly very scary.

Also, let's not forget the one guy that has worn the Devil Rays/Rays uniform longer than anybody else and knows the pain of the first 10 years more than most, Scott Cursi. The Rays bullpen catcher has been warming up pitchers since 1999. Congrats Scott, you earned it.

Finally, last week we took exception when one Red Sox blogger wrote about Carl Crawford and his "gangster neck tattoo". This week, Red Sox bloggers are back at it. This time courtesy of Surviving Grady.

Especially that punk-ass Carl Crawford, who you know is just an injury away from boosting car stereos.

Stay classy Red Sox Nation.

(The image after the Webtopia is from the Boston Globe)

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA...

• Some photos from the game 7 celebration. [Tampa Tribune]
• A recap of the game (with unfortunate appearance from Steve Harvey) from the guys at "The Dugout". [Fanhouse]
  
• It is impossible to overstate exactly how big David Price was in game 7. [Big League Stew]
• 10 reasons to watch the World Series. [SI.com]
  
• One writer at Bugs and Cranks is bracing himself in anticipation of having to get a Rayhawk after losing a bet. [Bugs and Cranks]
• Boston Irish will be rooting for the Phillies in the World Series because the Rays fan base "haven't exactly earned this as yet". They also hate the idea of all the "punk, spoilt, brash NBA star types" on the Rays being champs...Jonathon Papelbon? Something comes to mind about a pot and a kettle and grapes that may or may not be sour. [Boston Irish]
  
• Apparently, the Rays were just practicing for these postseason celebrations back in May. [The Sports Hernia]
• Coolest Rayhawk yet? [Deadspin]
  
• Dick Vitale was his usual passive self last night...Ahh, who are we kidding, the dude went batshit crazy. [Bugs and Cranks]
• Big League Stew debates whether Terry Francona stuck with Jason Varitek too long. [Big League Stew]
  
• Jordi Scrubbings spoke to Sports On My Mind about the Rays, prior to game 7. [Sports On My Mind]
  
• The cover of today's Boston Globe (thanks Scot). [Boston Globe]
• The Rays may have ended the Red Sox captain's career in Boston. [Boston Score]

Click on above images to be taken to full standings, box scores or schedule...

Just the links this morning...We have a plane to catch. But don't worry, we have a couple of posts lined up and ready to go, including the latest from the "Pepper" series. See you guys tonight.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA...

• In case you missed it yesterday afternoon, we ran a bunch of "Webtopia" links in the evening "Happy Hour" feature. [Rays Index]
• We should point out that we are still updating the Cork-Board in the sidebar during the postseason. Of note, that the Rays did promote Reid Brignac, Elliot Johnson and James Houser to the major league roster prior to the ALDS. This is really just a procedural move. Now, every player on the 40-man roster is on the major league roster and eligible for the postseason should an injury necessitate a move. [Cork-Board]
• In terms of cost-per-win, the Rays paid $452K per win this season, second only to the Marlins ($260K per win). At the other end of the spectrum was the Yankees at $2.3 million per win. The Red Sox were 4th highest in the AL (7th highest overall) at $1.4 million per win. [MSNBC]
• Fine! OK? There would be no baseball in Tampa Bay without Vince Naimoli. Thanks Vince. [St. Pete Times]
  
• The player drawing the most press coverage in the postseason? Aki Iwamura. [St. Pete Times]
  
• Sox and Pinstripes debates the addition of Mike Timlin to the Red Sox ALCS roster. [Sox and Pinstripes]
• John Romano says that the lingering message from the brawl in Boston is not the actual fight, but the pitch that precipitated the brawl. One way that this incarnation of the Rays differs from teams in the past is that the hitters feel protected by the pitchers. [St. Pete Times]
  

Click on above images to be taken to full standings, boxscores or schedule...

THE GOOD: Speed. The Rays have it and the White Sox don't. Game 2 marked the first time ever that Carl Crawford, BJ Upton and Fernando Perez started together in the outfield. Add Rocco Baldelli at DH and all the speed came in handy. Upton hit a triple to left-center that not many people would have turned into a triple. Perez caught a ball in the right field bullpen that not many would have even considered running after. CC stole a base in the 8th without even a throw and would later score on a single. And Rocco would score all the way from first on a pop up just behind the second baseman. On the flip side, the White Sox had 6 hits in the game with a runner on base. Not once did a runner advance more than one base on any of those hits...Dr. Jekyll. Scott Kazmir after the first inning. Kid K managed to fight through his early struggles and keep the Sox and his pitch count in check, making it into the 6th inning. Kazmir needed only 55 pitches in innings 2-5...Aki Iwamura. He doesn't hit a lot of home runs, but it seems like all of them give the Rays the lead.

THE BAD: Mr Hyde. Scott Kazmir in the first inning. It was Kazmir at his absolute worst. 37 pitches in the first inning...The Rays and Bucs start at the same time on Sunday. Not sure this has ever happened before, but the Bucs are going to be relegated to the Picture-In-Picture.

THE TELLING: WIth the second pitch of the game, Scott Kazmir hit Orlando Cabrera. After the fireworks between Cabrera and Grant Balfour the day before, it sure looked intentional. It hit Cabrera in the lower leg. Dioner Navarro had set up outside. Harold Reynolds was absolutely convinced that it was intentional and it looked intentional. BUT. We hope. We really, really hope Kazmir is not that dumb. Even if you think a message needs to be sent, you can't send that message in the first inning of a playoff game with no outs when Cabrera has about an 80% chance of scoring and putting your team in a hole. So we are going to give Kaz the benefit of the doubt and assume that it was just the most errant of wild pitches in the first inning.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA...

• Here is video of Joe Maddon's post-game press conference. [ESPN]
• Here is video of Rocco Baldelli and JP Howell after the game. [ESPN]
  
• The cameras at the USF game spotted Evan Longoria in the stands with some female companionship and referred to her as "an 0-4 day tomorrow" as in that is how Dirtbag would perform in game 2 after spending the night with her (Longoria went 1-4, so she must not have been that great). [Deadspin]
  
• Ozzie Guillen called game 2 "White Sox baseball" with "12 hits, we got two runs and those two runs were in the first inning. We got Kazmir on the ropes and we let him go. And we left [12] people on base. You're not going to win many games like that." [Chicago Tribune]
  
• More surprising than Akinori Iwamura's go ahead home run? How about the Aki mohawk. Yes. Yes he did. [Bugs and Cranks]
  
• Stuart Sternberg appeared on 670 The Score, a Chicago radio station. Here is a link to the audio...There is not another single principal owner in baseball that is this accessible. Not even George Steinbrenner would do this in his hay day, and we love it. [670 The Score]
  
• Before the series we predicted that JP Howell would be put into a situation that could decide the fate of the series. Brittany Ghiroli breaks down this very scenario from game 2.
  
• The Twins writer over at Bugs and Cranks had to eat some crow after the Twinker Bells didn't even show up for the ALDS. [Bugs and Cranks]
• October is when bullpens reign supreme...and Yes, the Rays' bullpen is what sets the Rays apart. [Fox Sports]
  
• Baseball America has updated their list of the top 20 prospects of the International League. Three Rays make the list including Wade Davis (#3), Reid Brignac (#4) and Jeff Niemann (#16). [Baseball America]
• The Arena ranks which potential world series matchups would be the most attractive. Of the 16 potential matchups, the Rays come in 3, 7, 9 and 10. [The Arena]
• Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times says that losing the first 2 games is just par for the course for the White Sox. [Chicago Sun-Times]
• Mark Buerhle says the Rays remind him of the '05 White Sox. [Chicago Sun-Times]
• Jason Beck says it will not be easy for the Rays to eliminate the White Sox in Chicago. [MLB]
  

THE GOOD: Ben Zobrist getting the start. Everytime he did something good, we were rewarded with shots of his wife Julianna. That's it. That was the only redeeming quality of yesterday's game.

THE BAD: Joe Maddon had some questionable (read: idiotic) pitching changes on Sunday. First he brings Dan Wheeler in to face Ryan Ludwick one day after Ludwick had taken Wheeler deep for a walk-off home run. First pitch on Sunday? Home run. But the really stupid move? After Wheeler walked the lead-off hitter of the 8th inning. A lefty was due up. So Papa Joe brings in Trever Miller. Seems fine with the lefty due up, EXCEPT IT IS A BUNTING SITUATION AND THE NEXT BATTER IS A RIGHTY. Why Miller, who was allowing righties to hit 8-25 (.320) prior to that at bat? Result? You guessed it. A single to left that scores 2. Game tied...More poor fundamentals. On a sunny Sunday afternoon, why on earth did anybody let Evan Longoria go out to the field without sunglasses? Sure enough, he lost a pop-up in the Sun. Eric Hinske was thrown out at second trying to stretch a double. And the pitchers walked 10 batters, 4 in the 8th inning alone. It is a miracle the Cards only scored 5...But the real reason the Rays lost on Sunday? They angered the gods of baseball. The Spring Training jersey in the regular season is idiotic. First of all they are acceptable for practice, but they are ugly and do not look like a major league baseball jersey. The pit-stain coloring is horrendous. The wide white stripe on the side clashes with the piping on the pants. Not to mention the color of the jersey is not the same as the cap. We'd expect that from an AAU team. Not from a major league baseball club. For all that is holy, please never do that again.

THE TELLING: Jason Bartlett was out of the lineup with an illness. This was siginificant as the very first batter for the Cards hit a ground ball in the hole, that Zobrist got to, but threw late to first. We have seen Bartlett make that play two dozen times this season...The Rays batters only went down 1-2-3 in 2 innings during the entire 3-game series. Both of those innings came on Sunday. While the Sox now have a 1-game lead in the East, the Rays and Sox are still tied in the all-important loss column...The Rays have a 1.5 game lead in the Wild Card standings over the O's and the A's.

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]
• We will have the Rays Index Live Blog-A-Baloo on Wednesday afternoon for game 3 of the Oakland series. The Live Blog-A-Baloo will be held right here.
• A "24-hour bug" has hit the Rays clubhouse recently, but Jason Bartlett was the first player to get sick, and had to sit out yesterday's game. [MLB]
  
• Big League Stew called the Rays-Cardinals series the "best of '08 interleague debut", noting that the series "actually oozed playoff intensity at times" although we have to take exception to the suggestion that the Rays have a "fundamentally sound approach". Clearly they did not see Saturday's game with all of the baserunning mistakes or the 10 walks on Sunday. "Fundamentals" cost the Rays a sweep. [Big League Stew]
  
• Rays of Light called yesterday's games the first "Maddon-loss" of the season...They are too kind. [Rays of Light]
• Jonny Gomes has only started 1 of the last 8 games, but should get 2 starts in the A's series as they are scheduled to throw 2 lefties in the series. [Tampa Tribune]
• Is Jonny Gomes shilling for Kevin Costner? Some (very) circumstantial eveidence suggests that Oliver Stone needs to be called. [Bugs & Cranks]
  
• Yesterday, DRG linked to a story about Gary Shelton suggesting that the Rays roster is better than the Yankees roster. Today we have Bugs & Cranks offering a rebuttal. [Bugs & Cranks]
• The same Bugs & Cranks writer (not David Chalk) thinks that the Rays "followed the lead of the perennially low-budget Florida Marlins by ponying up the money to sign one of their key stars, pitcher Scott Kazmir, to a four-year contract worth $28.5 million"...The Kazmir-deal is only the latest of a several long-term deals that the Rays have given to young players. Evan Longoria, James Shields and Carlos Pena have already been locked up long-term in the past few months. If anything, the Marlins are following the Rays and even then, they have a ways to go as one deal hardly compares to four. [Bugs & Cranks]
  
• Akinori Iwamura has cut-down on the flyball outs and it has helped to the tune of 26 hits in the last 15 games. [MLB]
  

DRG here again to get you through the weekend. I can be reached here..

• The Good: 2-out RBI and an offense that didn't quit. 5 of the 8 runs were scored with 2 out and the Rays bats rallied from down 8-4 to tie the game in the 8th inning. The big blow was Carlos Pena's 9th home run, a 3-run shot in the 7th. Pena also walked twice which is a good sign that he is regaining his confidence within the strike zone.
  
• The Bad: The Baserunning, again. I admit, I actually lost count of how many runners were thrown out on the basepaths. 2 runners were picked off first base in the first 2 innings. BJ Upton was once again thrown out at 3rd base, TWICE. Gabe Gross didn't get thrown out, but he did forget how many outs there were, getting hung up between 2nd and 3rd when there were two outs. He should have scored easily. Gross did have a caught stealing, as did Carl Crawford. That is how a team can manage 18 hits in 10 innings and LOSE...Why the hell is Jason Bartlett trying to sacrifice bunt with a runner on first and no outs in the 4th inning? Yes, it was a 1-run game at the time, but the Rays already had 9 hits in the first 9 outs of the game and Joe Maddon is playing the game like run #4 is going to win the game. As well as the Rays were hitting, Maddon should not have been playing for 1 run with the top of the order due up. And the stupifying point of all this is Papa Joe doesn't ever sacrifice bunt. All of the sudden the Rays are playing in a NL park and he changes his philosophy when he doesn't need to?... Can't blame the bullpen for the loss despite the home run off of Dan Wheeler. The 'pen held the Cards to 2 runs in 5 innings. They did their job.
  
• The Telling: I thought the team had gotten past their poor fundamentals, especially on the basepaths. At times, they look like a little league team. The way they were hitting yesterday, they should have scored 13-14 runs. If the Rays want to be serious contenders, they cannot give away games like they did yesterday. The Rays lead the AL in steals with 40, but they are only 10th in sb% at 67.8%. They are 3rd in the AL in runners picked off with 7, and that does not include all the runners that were thrown out trying to advance an extra base.
  

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA...

• Would you trade the 25-man roster of the Rays for the 25-man roster of the Yankees? Gary Shelton says 'No'. [St. Pete Times]
  
• Akinori Iwamura is one of only 2 everyday major leaguers without an error. [Sign On San Diego]
• Jason Bartlett and Akinori Iwamura are quickly molding into one of the best double-play combos in baseball. [MLB]
• Monte Kiffin called Joe Maddon to praise the team's new commitment to defense. Papa Joe has invited Kiffin to address the team. [St. Pete Times]
  
• Alex Rodriguez was impressed by David Price after going 1-4 with a home run and 2 strike outs against last year's top pick. [ESPN]

"I wish he was on our team," Rodriguez said. "He has a very bright future."

• One Red Sox blogger fears the Rays. And not just in '08. [wicked clevah]

My real concern, however, isn’t this season. Not that I relish the thought of a resurgent Rays club, but Tampa making a single season run like the Marlins of yore I could live with. The longtime laughingstock positioning itself for years of competitive play, I’m not sure I can.

Over/Unders:

88 wins for the Rays, as predicted by PECOTA in the preseason:

The Rays as of today, sit at 24-17. In order to win 88 games, they need to only go 64-57. In other words, they have played 7-over .500 in the first quarter of the season and need only play 7-over over the last 121 games. Also keep in mind that the Rays have already played 10 of their 18 games against the Yankees but have only played 6 of their 18 games versus the Sox. That leaves 20 games against those two monsters. If they only win 5 of those games, they will have to go 59-42 against the rest of the league. Not impossible, but not easy either. So the key is splitting those games against the two-headed AL East monster. The Yankees games don't scare us. Those 12 against the Sox do. UNDER

.340 batting average for Dioner Navarro:

Entering the weekend series Navi is hitting .387. His line drive percentage sits at a strong 22.4% but his EqA is only .311 and he has almost twice as many strikeouts as walks (9 to 5). What Navi does have going for him is he only has 75 at bats so far, which means he is rested (although he was stronger in the second half of '07) and individual hits will add more to his average. And, he has a 47 point cushion right now. But Navi's biggest problem is his speed. He just isn't going to benefit from the occasional infield single. He will hit .300 and he might even hit .320. But he will not hit .340. UNDER

17 wins for Andy Sonnanstine:

We are 1/4 the way through the season and Duke has 5 wins and is on pace to win 20 and he is on the hill tonight. So far this season, in 8 starts, Sonny has allowed 4 runs or more 5 times. He has W's in 2 of those starts. His Expected wins and losses are 2.4 and 2.9, meaning Sonny has been very lucky so far. A more likely win total for Duke is 12-13. UNDER

25 home runs for Evan Longoria:

So far Longoria has 4 long balls in 31 games and is hitting a home run about once every 30 at bats. If he plays everyday and gets another 520 plate appearances over the course of the regular season, that would be another 17 home runs, which would give him 21. Dirtbag has looked lost at times and has not hit lefties at all. We have to assume that he will start to get more comfortable as the season progresses and that rate will pick up. Even if it is just a little, he should be good for 27-28 home runs. OVER

2 errors for Akinori Iwamura at second base:

This has been an amazing run. Aki has ZERO errors in the first 40 games he has played. And it is not for an absence of error opportunities. We have seen Aki range up the middle and make tough throws after spinning back towards first. Those are easy to throw away. He has been a part of 35 double-plays so far and is yet to make an errant toss to Bartlett or make a wild throw throw to first base. It has been said better by others, but outside of catcher, second base is the hardest position to learn, because so much of it is "feel" because the player often has his back to the runner or to the base he is throwing to. Last year Placido Palanco won the gold glove and did not commit a single error. So it is possible. But we have to think that eventually Aki is going to boot a couple, probably more than a couple. OVER

1.5 Wins for the Rays in this series against the Cardinals:

The Cardinals are 24-19 and 15-9 at home. Also, the Rays will play this series without their top 2 starters and without their DH (Cliff Floyd). We feel that a little luster of the season will come off this weekend. UNDER

DRG here again to get you through the weekend. I can be reached here..

• The Good: The 2nd inning was Scott Kazmir's coming out party. In the 1st inning, Kid K'd fastball was only 88-89, much like it was in his first start off the DL. However, in the 2nd inning, Kazmir struck out Juan Rivera to lead off the inning with only one fastball that broke 88. That seemed to be the at bat that gave him his confidence back, because in the next at bat, threw four fastballs that were clocked at 92. He walked that batter, but from that point forward, Kazmir was consistently 92-93 with his fastball including his 108th, and last, pitch in the 6th which was 93.
  
• The Bad: Mimosas, Coronas and whatever that blue crap was.
  
• The Telling: Stuart Sternberg predicted 50 home win in 2007. We laughed. They won 37. 2008 came and Sternberg predicted 50 home wins again. Again we laughed. The Rays have now won 8 straight at home (a record) and now sit at 12-7 at home this season. Brace yourselves. The Rays are on pace for 51 home wins in 2008. I can't make it up...PS, the Rays are now in second place and 1 game back of wild card lead...PPS, take a look at those standings above and soak it in for a moment. The season is now 20% completed and the Rays are not only not in last place, but they are in 2nd place, ahead of the O's. Ahead of the Jay. And ahead of the Yankees.
  

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA...

• ManRay is baaaaaaaccccccckkkkkkkkk. [Armchair GM]
  
• James Shields and Joe Maddon discuss the possibility of Shields throwing a no-hitter. [Tampa Tribune]
  
• Marc Topkin says that the Rays have narrowed their top choce down to 5 players...Prof loves the high school shortstop Tim Beckham. Personally, I am starting to lean towards one of the two catchers. I know the Rays do not draft for need, but with Dioner Navarro behind the plate and no obvious catching prospects in the system (John Jaso is not a catcher long-term), I love the idea of drafting a high school catcher. But hey, what do I know. [St. Pete Times]
• Beyond the Boxscore breaks down the two most likely candidates for the #1 pick. Tim Beckham and Florida State catcher Buster Posey. My Gator allegiances aside. Um. What? nevermind. Momentary lack of respect for my alma mata. Screw Posey. [Beyond the Boxscore]
  
• The New York Times takes a look at New York City native and potential #1 overall pick Pedro Alvarez. He says he would love to join David Price, his former Vandy teammate, in the Rays system...Sorry. As long as Scott Boras is his agent, he will not be drafted by the Rays. Even if the Rays thought they could afford his signing bonus demands, the bigger factor is that Boras almost always takes his clients to free agency and never signs away arbitration and free agency seasons. A key to the Rays franchise. [New York Times]
  
• Gary Glover and Al Reyes threw bullpen sessions yesterday. Sounds like Reyes is still a few days away, but Glover could be back today or tomorrow. [The Heater]
• Joe Maddon says that Akinori Iwamura is getting better at leading off and says that there are no plans to move him out of the spot. [Tampa Tribune]
  
• Her Rays thinks Akinori Iwamura's luck is a' changin with his new haircut. [Her Rays]
• Several Rays will use pink bats today for Mother's Day in honor of breast cancer awareness. [St. Pete Times]
  

THE GOOD: Carlos Pena hitting his first home run in almost a month (Apr 12).

THE BAD: With 2 on in the first, Evan Longoria hit a ball in left-center that would have been a sure double, IF Manny Being Manny was in left field. Instead he was DHing with David Oritiz getting the day off. Jacoby Ellsbury made the catch costing the Rays 2 runs early in the game...Shawn Riggans. 2 passed balls, an error and 0-2. Not good. Anybody think Mike DiFelice will be back sooner rather than later?...Jonny Gomes being robbed of a double on a ball that was clearly fair off the Green Monster and nobody appeared to even question the call, much less ask for help from another umpire...

THE TELLING: We guess the positive spin would be that if entering last weekend's series, and somebody offered us 3 wins in 6 games against the Sox, we probably would have taken it and ran.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• BJ Upton was in the lineup after missing the last 2 games with a sore shoulder, but Joe Maddon said that Upton "didn't want to turn it loose." And Upton admitted to some hesitation in his approach. [Tampa Tribune]
• Akinori Iwamura is one of only 2 starting second basmen in the majors without an error. [USA Today]
• Marc Lancaster takes a look at the upcoming draft and wonders who the Rays will draft. RJ Harrison says that the choice is not nearly as clear-cut as it was last year with David Price. As a side note, does anybody know why it is OK in baseball for a player to select an agent while they are still competing in college, as Pedro Alvarez has with Scott Boras and yet it is not OK in basketball and football? This one really stumps us. And yes, we realize that the player doesn't actually "sign" with the agent yet, but they are still aligned with one. And we are pretty sure that would still be illegal in baseball and football. [Tampa Tribune]
  
• Fox Sports list the Rays as only the 4th worst franchise in sports and only 3rd in baseball behind the Pirates and the Royals. [Fox Sports]