Rays try new approach: a blowout

RAYS 9, ORIOLES 2: There's no sweating out a sixth win in eight games as Tampa Bay moves to 19-13 since the All-Star break.

BALTIMORE - Much of the talk is about the future, about what improvements are needed, what progress has to be made, what goals can be attained.

But life in the present tense has been pretty good for the Devil Rays, too.

The Rays won again Tuesday, and weren't even holding their breath in the ninth inning while doing so, blasting Baltimore 9-2 with a 16-hit attack and another solid outing from Jeremi Gonzalez.

It was their sixth win in eight games and improved their post All-Star break record to 19-13, second only to the Yankees (20-11) among AL East teams, and 25-19 since July 1.

"We're playing better," manager Lou Piniella said. "We've been playing better for a while and it's starting to show a little more often in the win column now, which is good to see.

"These kids are playing hard and they're expecting to win. And that's more than half the battle."

Rookie Rocco Baldelli, whose two-strike, two-out, two-run single in the seventh put the Rays ahead to stay, said life as a Devil Ray is good.

"I can't at this point really see us playing more confidently or much better than we are right now," Baldelli said. "The only thing you can ask for is to go out and play close games and go out and feel like you can win every day, and I think every day when we go out on the field for the last two months we go out there expecting to win.

"When we lost those two games in Cleveland (over the weekend), it was kind of different. Earlier in the season we'd lose and it was, "Okay, get ready for tomorrow.' But we hadn't lost too many and when we lost two games in a series it felt kind of weird. It kind of felt like we shouldn't lose those games. You kind of start thinking we should win every single game when we go out there."

The Rays trailed 2-1 going to the seventh when Baldelli's single - "the big hit in the game," Piniella said - keyed their comeback and sent the Orioles to their eighth straight loss.

Eric DuBose had retired 10 straight when Jared Sandberg started the rally with a leadoff walk. After Marlon Anderson popped up a bunt, Carl Crawford delivered his third single of the night. Julio Lugo's groundout moved the runners to second and third, and Baldelli sent them home by slapping a backdoor slider to left.

After having seven of their past 13 games decided in the final inning, including six on the final pitch, the Rays were able to relax with a five-run ninth, thanks mainly to home runs by Lugo, with his third in two games, and Sandberg, a monstrous three-run shot.

"That was fun," Sandberg said.

Gonzalez, who made his return to the majors after a five-year medical absence in Baltimore on May 17, had another impressive outing, allowing one earned run and five hits in 71/3 innings.

He improved his record to 6-5, lowered his ERA to 3.46 and increased his chances to win the comeback player of the year honors. It was the 13th time in 18 starts he allowed three runs or fewer.

The Rays survived three leadoff walks and some missed opportunities, but they were almost done in by Baltimore third-base coach Tom Trebelhorn's behind.

The Orioles were rallying in the sixth when Gonzalez, backing up the plate, tried to chase Deivi Cruz back to third, but his throw struck Trebelhorn ("The left quadrant of the buttocks," Trebelhorn said) and bounced away. Cruz came home on the error and B.J. Surhoff moved to third and later scored, putting the Orioles up 2-1.

"Just a weird, freaky play," Sandberg said.

"A little bit of Devil Rays baseball there," Piniella said. "We were playing the carom."