Rays maintain sunny disposition

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon’s voice was crushed glass even before he savaged what was left of his larynx while berating umpires on behalf of B.J. Upton, the young Rays outfielder who had begun his day by apologizing for multiple offenses but in this instance was not guilty as charged.

“That may be the worst call I’ve ever seen,” rasped Maddon, who had picked up a nasty bug during the team’s last trip. “No justification for that call. That’s a crucial moment in that game. You’re going to blow calls on bang-bang plays. That happens. Fabrication, I have no time for. And then to be validated by the crew chief, I don’t like at all. That’s what pissed me off.

“I’m not backing off on this one because I’m going to get fined on that, so screw ‘em. But I’m telling you, that’s the kind of call that can cost you a pennant right there.”

Maddon’s spectacularly profane-as-Piniella defense of Upton, who had been called out by first-base umpire Jerry Meals for making a phantom turn toward second base after an overthrow at first, left the manager lamenting in tortured tones that he’d been forced to watch the rest of Tampa Bay’s 4-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels on the TV in the coaches’ room.

“It’s much easier to watch on the field than on TV,” said Maddon, who after being ejected in the sixth inning joined baseball’s living Buddha, Don Zimmer, in the back of the Rays’ clubhouse.

“TV really creates way too much drama about an event,” he said, his voice cracking as he ranted. “I’ve always felt that. So you’re watching this little box on the wall. I can’t stand it when it comes to significant moments. I hate to, like, bag on TV people. I like ‘The Office,’ ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ on HBO. But when it comes to live events, it drives me nuts.”

For the Rays, who have replaced 10 years of irrelevance with a wildly satisfying summer of significant moments, not even a 26-inch screen could diminish what happened Tuesday night. Serial losers – the Rays have finished better than last only once in franchise history while averaging 97 defeats a season – they wrested the best record in the American League away from the Angels by beating them for the second consecutive night. At 77-48, they are tied with the Chicago Cubs for the best record in baseball.

“That’s something special,” said Rays first baseman Carlos Pena. “We don’t ever stop and think about it too much. We don’t. But don’t you think it’s nice to hear it?”

Veteran Rays outfielder Cliff Floyd, who played part of one summer in Boston, was asked if he thought it was dawning on the second-place Red Sox and their fans that with six weeks left in the season, the Rays are legit.

“Hopefully they don’t start to believe until they’re sitting there watching TV and we’re playing in the playoffs,” he said. “We’ll go with that one.”

Imagine, the manager of the Tampa Bay Rays, a team that never had been more than four games better than .500 at any point in their history before 2008, complaining that an umpire’s call might cost his team the pennant. But it is typical of the Rays’ resilience that they rallied against the Angels for three runs in the eighth with the benefit of just one hit, a two-run single by Willy Aybar off Darren Oliver after Pena had drawn a game-tying walk off Angels reliever Scot Shields.

This was the Rays’ 35th come-from-behind victory and the eighth in games they’ve trailed after seven innings.

“One inning got away from us,” said Angels manager Mike Scioscia, whose team has lost consecutive series to the Indians and Rays after not losing a series to another American League team since May. “We cracked open the door with an error (a wild throw by catcher Jeff Mathis) and the walks, and Aybar got the big hit for them.”

Aybar, who is playing third in the absence of Evan Longoria, one of three key Rays who have gone down with injuries in the last couple of weeks. Outfielder Carl Crawford is expected to miss the rest of the season with a subluxation of the tendon in his right middle finger – he felt a pop on a checked swing in Seattle Aug. 9. Longoria fractured his right wrist when hit by a pitch by Seattle’s J.J. Putz two nights earlier. He’s expected to be out until September. Troy Percival, who couldn’t stay retired and improbably reclaimed his role as a premium closer, re-injured his right knee but passed on season-ending surgery and insists he’ll be back in a couple of weeks.

The Rays were supposed to give in to a reality check when they lost seven straight games just before the All-Star break. Losing a two-time All-Star in Crawford, their middle-of-the-order phenom in Longoria and bullpen anchor in Percival seemed the perfect recipe for retreat.

Instead, Tampa Bay is 22-9 since the break, the best record in baseball. Aybar is hitting .364 with three home runs and nine RBIs in the 11 games since he took over for Longoria at third. Pena has hit 10 home runs in his last 23 games. Rays relievers, even without Percival, have held opponents to a .218 batting average, lowest in the majors. And journeymen Eric Hinske and Gabe Gross, now platooning in left, have 29 home runs and 82 RBIs between them.

“When you lose front-line guys, you’re always concerned,” Maddon said. “But everybody’s got ownership of this situation right now.”

Maddon introduced a slogan for that in spring training: 9=8. Play nine innings a night, every night, and you wind up being one of the eight teams playing in October.

Hinske was a reserve on a Red Sox team that won the World Series last year, then signed a non-guaranteed $800,000 contract to play here. Could he have foreseen this coming?

“I’d be lying to you if I said yes,” he said, “especially the way things have gone the last 10 years. But we knew we had a good team. There’s always been talent here. Playing on other teams (Blue Jays, Red Sox), we knew they were talented. But they either gave it up late or something happened where they lost the game.”

Percival also had doubts when he first came to camp. “But the starting pitching I saw in spring training, I said, ‘Oh my God, we’re really good.’ ”

In a division in which the traditional powerhouse Red Sox and Yankees have had their pitching issues, Maddon has run out five starters 26 or younger, all of whom have performed at a high level. Matt Garza came from the Twins and just missed throwing a no-hitter. Edwin Jackson has a sub-4 ERA and like Scott Kazmir, the team’s reigning ace, is a win away from double figures. Andy Sonnanstine, the No. 5 starter, beat the Angels on Monday night for his 13th win, one short of the club record.

James Shields, who gave up two early runs Tuesday night, went eight innings for his 11th win; Shields is 8-1 with a 2.21 ERA at Tropicana Field, where the Rays are a big-league best 47-17 at home. The Rays also are 10-2 in the 12 starts Shields has made since serving a six-game suspension in the aftermath of a brawl with the Red Sox that some Rays see as a defining moment in their coming together as a team.

“You can talk about it,” reliever Trever Miller said, “but until you’re actually down and see ‘hey, we weren’t just talking, we have each other’s backs,’ that moment kind of sealed the deal. We know it now.”

Miller was here with the Rays in 2004 and 2005, years that he said were “Mojave Desert barren.” But after two seasons in Houston, he re-signed as a free agent in February, and is more attuned than most at what the Rays are accomplishing under the Big Trop.

Only one team has lost 95 games or more one season, then won 95 or more the next. That was Arizona, which went from 65-97 in 1998 to 100-62 the following season. The Rays, who lost 96 games in 2007, are on pace to win 100.

“I’m not sure the guys understand the historical importance of this,” Miller said. “Nobody’s done this. This is an epic turnaround for the ballclub and the franchise. I’m excited to be a part of it.”

Thus the consternation over recent antics by Upton, who had been cited twice by Maddon for not hustling, which led to his benching over the weekend, then a colossal lapse in Monday night’s game, in which he was jogging into second base on an apparent double and was tagged out by first baseman Mark Teixeira, who was trailing the play.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen that one,” Pena said.

Maddon did not fault Upton for a lack of effort on that play, instead chalking it up to Upton making a fatal assumption. Upton showed up before Tuesday’s game, apologized, threw out a runner at the plate from center field, was the victim of the terrible umpiring call, then took a called third strike on a full count before Pena walked and Aybar delivered his game-winning single.

“Amazing, you know what I mean?” said Floyd, who said his “heart hurt” after Upton’s gaffe Monday night, while reflecting on how his young teammate remained in the maelstrom Tuesday night.

“But he beat the odds. Nobody today wondered what you’re going to get from him. Nobody. He came in with his head high. He went out there and showed what he’s capable of doing every night. That’s what we need.”

Maddon’s intervention wasn’t required to set Upton straight, Pena said. The clubhouse took care of it.

“Big brothers to little brother,” he said. “Very lovingly, respectfully but firmly, we’ll let him know. It’s no reflection on his character. He’s a great kid, a great player. You’ll see him go off, absolutely, these last few weeks.”

And in the end, there was the manager, just days after spanking Upton, rushing to his defense.

“He has to understand that I was there for him,” Maddon said. “Believe me, as a group, we’re working together on this one, and we’re going to make it right.”

Even on a night the umpires got it wrong.

“Sorry about the voice, fellas,” Maddon said. “I did not plan on screaming tonight.”