Like a puppy trailing us home from the corner market, we figure these Rays are eventually going to trail off,  back away, lose interest or get flattened by a car.

But none of those things have happened yet, so it's quickly dawning on me that our first mistake is not recognizing the advantage of their being the young dog on the block. With it comes gobs of energy, resiliency and the just the right amount of stupidity to not know what they're getting into. If Tampa Bay understands that there's pressure involved in this thing they call postseason baseball, we certainly haven't seen it yet.

With a 6-2 victory over the White Sox on Friday night, the Rays are now just one victory away from reaching the ALCS and if the Red Sox or Angels think a simple "scram" is going to be enough to shoo them, then they'll be facing a fate similar to the White Sox. The Rays' win in Game 2 was typical Tampa Bay — they kept it close despite some early struggles from starter Scott Kazmir, took the lead on a homer by hero-of-the-day Akinori Iwamura and then created separation room late in the game with three insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth inning.

The series now heads to Chicago for Sunday's Game 3 and it's probably safe to say the White Sox no longer see the Rays as the easily leashed pup. Right now, they're the AL's undisputed top dog.

Other bits from Friday's first game ...  

• The Orlando Cabrera-Grant Balfour dispute spilled over to the second pitch of the game, when Kazmir hit Cabrera in the leg with a pitch. The leadoff runner turned into a bases loaded situation, but although the White Sox scored two runs,  it was the only damage Chicago's middling offense would inflict on Kazmir. Though the Rays' lefty labored through 5 1//3 innings with 98 pitches, the White Sox continually failed to capitalize, stranding nine runners in scoring position.

• Winning Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger threw out the first pitch before the game and if the Rays thought they had a challenge in finding "names" to perform the honor, just wait until the ALCS.

Related: 2008 MLB playoffs, ALDS - White Sox vs. Rays