That could be a death blow for Tampa

[Frobby]

I have to give the Rays a ton of credit. They were as good as dead eight days ago, but they have refused to throw in the towel and have crawled right back in the race.

Did anyone see the clip of the Rays' rookies dressed in women's swimsuits having a mock beauty contest in the Fenway Park outfield a couple of days ago? Joe Maddon is just brilliant at keeping his team loose when things are tight. Here's a link to the video, it's hilarious.

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/82815693/

[anrynike]

You'd think Chicago could win at least one of the next two games. They were pathetic last night.

[OFFNY]

5 straight wins, and the Rays have vaulted themselves right back into the playoff hunt.

TAMPA BAY TIMES:O http://www.tampabay.com/sports/baseball/rays/tampa-bay-rays-complete-three-game-sweep-with-3-0-win-over-toronto-blue/1253068

Eh, sort of. They still have a lot of ground to make up.

Oh, my bad. I was thinking that the Rays were battling with the Angels for the second wildcard spot, when in fact the team that they have to catch is the Athletics, who are 3 and-a-half games ahead of them.

Thanks, Frank.

Even though they have won 8 games in a row, I still don't think that the Rays will get in. They are 2 games behind the Athletics, 3 behind the Orioles, and 4 behind the Yankees (in the event that we pass them for the division title) with 6 games left to play.

[JR Oriole]

Tampa's pitching is absolutely unreal. Every damn starter is outstanding, and every reliever they bring in is better than the one before. I watched the whole Tampa game last night. Shields, McGee, Peralta, Rodney! I am surprised they didn't throw a no-hitter. Tampa starters remind me of the Braves starters in the 1990s, except nobody on Atlanta except Smoltz and maybe Avery threw the kind of gas Tampa starters throw. AND, the bullpen in Atlanta was always suspect.

I don't feel good about Chicago winning a game. I don't care who they are throwing out there on the mound, the White Sox look like a beaten and tired team. Sale has been very good this year, but I don't feel confident about him stopping a slide at this point. And there are no fans coming to those games.

[waroriole]

Ugh.. Frobby I have nothing but love for you brother but I have to say I hated this thread when it was started and I hate it even more now. Lol.. one loss against Chicago will make me feel a lot better though.

Frobby jinx. They're gonna sweep CHI now.

[SilentJames]

They are hanging on for dear life right now, but they need to remain perfect AND get help.

They are three behind the Orioles in the loss column. They need Boston to win this series, and win the next six games, bringing their win streak to 13, to close the season.

It is a very very tall order.

[BMann]

They are hanging on for dear life right now, but they need to remain perfect AND get help.

They are three behind the Orioles in the loss column. They need Boston to win this series, and win the next six games, bringing their win streak to 13, to close the season.

It is a very very tall order.

I believe the Rays now control their own destiny. They are tied with the Angels now. If they win out, the worst they will finish is in a 3-way tie with us and LA for the second wild-card spot, assuming LA and Oak win out. Yes?

[JR Oriole]

Tampa needs NO HELP, and that is the problem. If Tampa can sweep the lifeless White Sox, they can remain 3 back of us even if we sweep Boston. They could in tie us in Game 162 without getting any help at all. That is why we really need them to lose at least one in Chicago. Yes, it would require them winning 14 straight, which is a very tall order as you say. BUT, five years ago we watched a pretty untalented Colorado team win 21 of 22 or something sick like that to close the season. It isn't impossible.

All that being said, this is OUR YEAR and not Tampa's so they need to go away already.

[El Gordo]

They are hanging on for dear life right now, but they need to remain perfect AND get help.

They are three behind the Orioles in the loss column. They need Boston to win this series, and win the next six games, bringing their win streak to 13, to close the season.

It is a very very tall order.

They need BOS to win one and they need to sweep us. We need to sweep BOS and win one from them. If the Angels lose one game from TEX and we sweep BOS we are at least the second WC no matter what happens in TB. We have to sweep BOS. Or we need Frobby to post that TB is a lock to sweep CHI.

[JR Oriole]

Our magic number is 4, meaning sweeping Boston is not enough no matter what happens in Arlington. The reason is Oakland and Tampa can both win out, which means Oakland automatically moves above us and Tampa ties us in Game 162.

[jimbones]

Even the Rays radio announcers were proclaiming the season a lost cause last Thursday night vs Boston as the Redsox were ready to take 3 out of 4 in the Trop and then...................they came back and havn't lost since. I don't think the reeling Whitesox have it in them to win even one game in Chicago. I feel this in my bones, we are going to need to win one game at the Trop to get into the playoffs and that is how it should be.

[Trackmaster]

Meanwhile in the National League, most of the play-off contenders now have 99.9-100.0% play-off odds according to ESPN. The Senators still clinging onto their #1 seed.

[El Gordo]

Our magic number is 4, meaning sweeping Boston is not enough no matter what happens in Arlington. The reason is Oakland and Tampa can both win out, which means Oakland automatically moves above us and Tampa ties us in Game 162.

If TB wins out by sweeping us, so be it. We should be able to take one from them.

[SilentJames]

I believe the Rays now control their own destiny. They are tied with the Angels now. If they win out, the worst they will finish is in a 3-way tie with us and LA for the second wild-card spot, assuming LA and Oak win out. Yes?

Yeah, the best they can do is tie. They can't get in without one of those teams losing.

They are two games behind Oakland, if Oak and LAA win out, and Tampa wins out then they are still two games behind Oakland, tied with LA.

So yes, the only teams that completely control their destiny right now are Baltimore and Oakland.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

[JR Oriole]

Seems to me Tampa still controls their destiny. If OAK, LAA, and Tampa all win out, then LAA and Tampa have a one game playoff to determine who the second wild card is. That to me still means they control their own destiny.