Davidoff: New Ray wins decision over new Yankee

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.

They say the game always finds you, and sometimes, on particularly good days for those of us on the sidelines, the storyline tracks you down, too.

So it came to fruition Sunday, at an electric Tropicana Field, where a pair of new arrivals - former Astros teammates, to boot - faced off. With second-day Yankee Lance Berkman at the plate in the eighth inning, one out and Derek Jeter on first base, Rays manager Joe Maddon lifted starting pitcher "Big Game James" Shields for second-day Rays pitcher Chad Qualls.

Qualls, after falling behind 3-and-0, threw a strike and then got his old pal to roll over on a two-seam fastball. Inning-ending double play. Not too much later, series-ending victory for the Rays, 3-0, in this terrific weekend matchup of baseball's two best teams.

Since they touched down at St. Petersburg-Clearwater Airport Friday morning, the Yankees picked up Berkman, Austin Kearns and Kerry Wood, adding roughly $5 million to a payroll now estimated at $213 million. The Rays, at about $73 million, added Qualls. By taking two of three, Tampa Bay closed within one game of the first-place Yankees in the American League East.

"That's what they always do, right?" Qualls said of his new rival's propensity for making in-season additions. "They're players just like us. I've got to execute my pitches. If I can do that, hopefully I'll get them all out."

Added Shields: "The bottom line is, they can get all the guys they want. We're going to stick to our game. I think we've got good players on our side.

"They made a bunch of pickups and things like that. That's fine. That's what they want to do. They feel they needed to do that with the guys they had before, then that's fine. But we're not really too concerned with what they're doing."

They shouldn't be. No matter how many times you watch these Rays play, you come away newly impressed.

They beat the Yankees and ace CC Sabathia because Shields was "the best I've ever seen him," said Maddon, Shields' manager since 2006. The righthander said he took a little off his fastball, throwing at 90-91 mph rather than 91-92, and mixed in his changeup more.

He struck out 11 Yankees. The only other pitcher to whiff that many Yankees this season? King Felix Hernandez of Seattle, on June 30.

The Rays didn't pound Sabathia and the Yankees. As much as anything, they capitalized on some bad defense by Berkman, making his first (and perhaps last) appearance at first base for the defending world champions. But Tampa Bay won without regulars Carlos Peña (sore right foot) and Ben Zobrist (lower back stiffness).

These are no upstarts by now, however. Most of these Rays played for the 2008 team that outlasted the Red Sox in the regular season and the playoffs to reach the World Series and kept Joe Girardi out of the postseason altogether in his first season running the Yankees.

"A couple of years ago, it probably mattered more, because we were so young and inexperienced where you could get a little bit wide-eyed about the whole thing," Maddon said. "But I'd like to believe we're beyond that. For me now, it's not about money. It's about execution.

"I have never worried about how much they have, or how little it's perceived that we have. I like our names. I like our players."

Both should make the playoffs - the Red Sox sit 51/2 games behind the Rays - so for now, this will be a seeding race. You get the sense the Rays will keep us interested no matter how many more reinforcements the Yankees pick up along the way.