Baseball Sunday: Around the horn

Published: Sunday, July 6, 2008 12:04 a.m. MDT
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Bright Rays

Tampa Bay third baseman Evan Longoria looks like an All-Star in his rookie season. Longoria was 4-for-10 with two walks while fielding his position well in last week's sweep of Boston, which pushed the Rays' lead to 3 1/2 games in the AL East — and No. 1 in the Deseret News Top 10 rankings.

Tampa Bay is 6-0 at Tropicana Field against the Red Sox and an amazing 18-2 at home against a group of elite teams, including the Yankees, Angels, White Sox and Cubs. It's no surprise players have begun to believe they are a lot more than a nice first-half story.

David Ortiz created a stir by saying he didn't believe the Rays can hang on, saying that in the end experience will tilt the race back toward Boston.

"He's right — history backs him up," Tampa Bay closer Troy Percival said. "But it's not going to happen to us. If we don't win this thing, it's not going to be because we fall. They will have to come and take it from us. There's a difference."

Like it is

Kids really do say the darndest things, a fact Ken Griffey Jr. was rudely reminded of recently.

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Seeing that he wasn't starting against Pittsburgh's Paul Maholm on Monday, he asked manager Dusty Baker's nine-year-old son, Darren, why he was out of the lineup. According to the Dayton Daily News, here's the conversation that followed.

Darren: "Because you can't hit lefthanded pitchers."

Junior: "I hit 21 homers off lefthanders in 1996."

Darren: "That was 1996. You're old now."

Informed of the exchange, Darren's dad just shook his head. "Hey, don't ask a kid," he advised. "He'll tell you."

Number: 6

Players with at least 200 plate appearances who hadn't grounded into a double play this year, going into Wednesday night: Jayson Werth (Phillies), Willy Taveras (Rockies), Kaz Matsui (Astros), Corey Patterson (Reds), Akinori Iwamura (Rays) and Jack Hannahan (Athletics).

Quotable

Padres CEO Sandy Alderson, on why he expects San Diego to be a seller before the July 31 trading deadline: "If we were to be buyers, it would be hard to choose among catcher, shortstop, outfield, starting pitcher, half the bullpen. There's not a shopping cart big enough." —Combined wire services

Top 10 — 10 year history edition

(Years below .500 since 1998)

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