Dan Wheeler News

It seems as if every aspect of the 2009 Rays is considered a disappointment when compared to last year's group.

Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Dan Wheeler kicks the mound as Seattle Mariners' Jose Lopez, left, rounds the bases after hitting an eighth-inning home run during a baseball game Tuesday, Sept.

That's a bit of an oversimplification, of course, as Friedman and his staff do plenty of wheeling and dealing from April through September.

There was his outfield assist in the seventh, when Zobrist kept it a one-run game by throwing a one-hopper to get Michael Saunders at the plate on a potential sacrifice fly.

Ichiro Suzuki had one hit in eight career at-bats against Jeff Niemann before facing the Rays starter with two out and a runner on the fifth inning Tuesday night.

Jose Lopez, left, is congratulated by Ken Griffey after hitting a solo homer off Rays reliever Dan Wheeler in the eighth inning that provided the eventual winning run.

Carl Crawford grimaces after being called out trying to steal third in the seventh.

James Shields allows four runs over six innings but gets the win in part because of the Rays' six-run third inning.

With the Rays ' chances of returning to the postseason dwindling, he'll be the next one to try and end the skid.

Last week I took a look at how the Rays ' 2009 high leverage FIP of 4.87 underperformed their season FIP of 4.36 while the average team fares 0.25 better in high leverage situations.

The Yankee's Magic Number to win the A.L. East is now.....drum roll, please....Thurman Munson.. Another day, another walk-off win.

WELL, it would seem that Stephen King has come down with a killer case of writer's block.

The Rays maintain - however half- or quarter-heartedly - they still have something to play for.

Not only was the Yankees captain spotted putting on his pants on one leg at a time yesterday, but his performance indicated that Lou Gehrig's all-time franchise hit record might be foremost on his mind.

Little things go wrong when a team finds itself in a funk, so the Rays should have expected what they got on Tuesday night.

Nick Swisher hit his second home run of the game, connecting with one out in the ninth inning to lead the New York Yankees over Tampa Bay 3-2 Tuesday night and send the Rays to their season-high seventh straight loss.

The poor attendance? Not what he expected. Six games back in the wild-card race? Not what he wanted.

Pat Burrell snapped an eighth-inning tie with a RBI single and Evan Longoria followed with a two-run homer Wednesday night to help host Tampa Bay avoid falling farther back in the AL playoff race with an 8-5 victory over Boston.

The Tampa Bay Rays rallied in the eighth inning to beat the Boston Red Sox 8-5 Wednesday and gain some ground in the American League Wild Card race.

Pat Burrell snapped an eighth-inning tie with a RBI single and Evan Longoria followed with a two-run homer Wednesday night to help Tampa Bay avoid falling farther back in the AL playoff race with an 8-5 victory over Boston.