Tampa Bay takes two of three from Boston, holds on to Al east lead

In the face of a rash of injuries and with a veteran Boston Red Sox team barreling up from behind, the Tampa Bay Rays were supposed to have surrendered first place in the AL East a long time ago.  So far it hasn’t happened.  After two scrappy victories in Fenway Park the Rays find themselves 2 games ahead of Boston after a Friday night date with the New York Yankees was postponed due to rain.

The Rays biggest test appeared to be the loss of presumptive AL rookie of the year Evan Longoria to a hand injury a month ago.  While the team did suffer some loss of offensive productivity during Longoria’s absence, a number of other players—most notably first baseman Carlos Pena—stepped up with timely contributions at the plate to keep Tampa atop the division and, for now at least, hold off Boston’s onslaught.  The Rays are hoping to put some breathing room between them and the Red Sox against the Yankees this weekend, as Boston will travel to Tampa early next week for a three game set beginning on Monday that could potentially settle the divisional race for good.

The long time doormats are also on the verge of a historical accomplishment—should the team reach the 100 win mark they’ll have accomplished the greatest year to year turnaround in the history of major league baseball surpassing the 1946 Boston Red Sox.  That year the Red Sox improved by 33 games over 1945, the primary reason being that many of their stars including the legendary Ted Williams were back in the lineup after serving in WW II.  The Rays need to win 13 of their remaining 19 contests to reach the 100 win mark.  While that is somewhat above their season to date .603 winning percentage the schedule is in their favor.  They have to play a couple of solid teams in Boston and Minnesota at home, and conclude their season against struggling Detroit and Baltimore on the road.

Even if their quest for history falls short, or even if Boston manages to catch them and win the division, the Tampa Bay turnaround in 2008 has been downright amazing.  The team has been in a neck and neck competition for the best record in baseball for much of the season (they now trail the LA Angels by two games for that “unofficial” superlative).  Most significantly, they’ve completely transformed their home field from a veritable mausoleum to the toughest venue for visitors in the league.  Their home record of 53-21 as of Friday night is the best in MLB.