Has the Crumble Begun for Tampa Bay?

Question

The Yankees are from 6.5 back before allstar game, to now 3.5 games back... Boston is 1.5 and if they win tonight will be .5 games back.... 20 games before break, Tampa have lost near 5 games to the Yankees and 2-3 to the Red Sox..... Me thinks they hear loud footsteps coming from direction of the Northeast in Tampa LOL

Answer 1

Before we start crowning the division winner and naming who will crumble, let us all remember one thing... there's still lots of baseball to be played.  

That said, this is shaping up to be one of the best finishes the AL East has seen in quite some time.  Instead of just the Sox and Yanks, the Rays (of all teams) will be hanging around come September.  Believe it.

Reason?  All 3 teams have issues.  Sox have a horrendous bullpen, Yanks have experienced yet shoddy and inconsistent starters who could fall apart and any minute, and the Rays have a bunch of young guys who have never experienced this type of race before.  

I'm just excited to see some good baseball.

Answer 2

Yep, the Rays are a tad overrated.

They're too young and inexpierenced to hold a lead in a pennant race, kind of like last year's Brewers.  What they need is more experience (Yet again, like the Brewers now have) and then they'll be SERIOUS contenders.

Answer 3

While Tampa Bay is a very solid team there is one thing that they lack.  Being as young of a team as they are they don't have the experience or the stamina that the Yankees and Red Sox have.  Those 2 teams know what it takes to get the job done in the regular season in order to have a run at the playoffs.  I wouldn't be surprised to see them slip down in the standings, but I would really like to see this team do good and make the playoffs this year.

Answer 4

When they go head to head in September against New York and Boston we shall see. I don't see them losing much ground the rest of this month and next month, if at all. I believe they will keep pace. Remember, it was not the Rays leading the division going into the break, it was the Red Sox. People thought the Rays would keep sputtering out of the break but they regained the lead. It's not the Rays with the weight of the world bearing down on them, that belongs to the Empire and BoSox who are expected to be in the playoffs. The Rays have nothing to lose because nobody expects them to be there at the end. So I think the perception that they will fade away is probably a little false. Which teams have more to lose, answer me that? The pressure doesn't lie in Florida, you will find that up north.

Answer 5

Tampa is not going to do anything come October too much power in the AL east!!

Answer 6

I think so. I said it before and still think it, the Rays are not going to have nearly as good a second half as first. Sure there is a lot of baseball left to be played and ANYTHING can happen but I really doubt they will be ahead of either the Yanks or the Red Sox when the season is over. They are a good team and I am shocked at how well they have done thus far but eventually the inexperience of their young players will catch up to them.

Answer 7

I think the Red Sox are strong competition, and the Yankees will probably pull within a game sometime in the next 2 weeks.  If the Sox take back the division lead before this weekend, they might be able to gain a game on the Yankees in the rival series, knocking them down to  4 or 5 games out.  I wouldn't say the Rays are crumbling though, seeing as how the Sox had the division lead through June, and have only had the division lead for 1 day in all of July.

Answer 8

Yes!!! they better hold on to their paychecks while they still have them!!! now give me my cheese...!!!

Answer 9

I am sure they are feeling the pressure, wouldn't you? I hope they hold up though, it is a good story.

Answer 10

GO RED SOX