New and blue Rays go 1-0

Jackson is on target, Longoria doubles and, befitting the theme of change, the bullpen holds on.

By Marc Topkin, Times Staff Writer
Published March 1, 2008

Rays right-hander Edwin Jackson logs two scoreless innings with two strikeouts.
	[James Borchuck | Times]

ADVERTISEMENT [James Borchuck | Times] Rays outfielder Carl Crawford steals third base at the front end of a double steal with Carlos Pena in the first inning against the Reds. [James Borchuck] Justin Ruggiano swipes second as Adam Rosales is late with the tag in the Rays' three-run eighth inning.

SARASOTA - The major theme throughout the Rays offseason was big changes - new name, new uniforms, new colors, new players, new alignment, new attitude and new outlook.

"Just coming out today feels new," centerfielder B.J. Upton said Friday. "It's new faces on the field, it's some guys in different spots. And it looks like it's going to be pretty good.

"I don't know if we could get any more enthused than we already are. We were like a bunch of Little Leaguers in the dugout before the game."

Now the spring is going to be about getting the little things right.

In their first game as the blue crew, the Rays opened the exhibition season Friday by rallying late and hanging on speaking of new ... for a 7-6 win over the Reds.

It was a day when Edwin Jackson (two crisp innings) got off to a good start in the race for one of the two open rotation spots. Evan Longoria flashed a glimpse of his greatness by crushing a run-scoring double off the left-centerfield wall. Prospect Jake McGee showed (with all five batters he faced reaching base) he still has work to do as a 6-2 eighth-inning lead evaporated. Veteran Eric Hinske mashed a ninth-inning run-scoring single to put the Rays back ahead. And fearless minor-leaguer Chris Mason came on to (eventually, after allowing two hits) get the final three outs.

But it was some much less obvious items that manager Joe Maddon seemed to enjoy most.

"I liked it," Maddon said. "I liked the way we looked. I thought we came out with kind of a nice intensity for the first game of spring training. Everybody was in line with trying to do the right things, and we did some nice things.

"One of my favorite things all day was Jason Bartlett going first to third on that base hit to leftfield (in the fourth inning), and he did it because of his lead off first base. He was way off the bag, he was in tune with the runner on second base, he goes to third base. I really liked that. I want that to typify what we're doing this year."

Baserunning is one of the areas that Maddon has targeted for improvement, along with increased strike-throwing (and less walk-giving) by the pitchers, better situational hitting and improved defense.

So while he liked the aggressiveness Carl Crawford and Carlos Pena showed with a double steal in the first inning of the first spring game (for what could have been the first time in modern baseball history), he acknowledged that Pena needs to make a smarter decision in that situation because most teams will try to get the trail runner rather than the fleet Crawford.

"That's one of our priorities, to be considered the best baserunning team in either league," Maddon said. "And I really want us to get to that point."

There will be other such areas of focus, too, such as the extra work they did Friday morning on cutoffs and relays, a concentration on team and individual adjustments that will improve the whole.

"The work's been really good, and we've been paying attention to detail as a group, and that's what I'm really focusing on right now," Maddon said. "We're going to be hypercritical with our guys in regard to different things that happen in a game, both positive and negative. That's a big part of the next couple weeks."

[Last modified February 29, 2008, 22:35:43]