How Sweep It Is!

Tropicana Field was electric on Wednesday night, a feeling not often sensed at a stadium where the home team was not always worth the charge.

This season is different though, the Rays are on an inconceivable tear through all opponents put in front of them. The latest victims come in the form of the defending World Series Champion Boston Red Sox.

For the second time this season, the Red Sox were swept out of “the Trop”, as it is referred to by many Rays fans. After taking the first two games from Boston, it seemed almost as if the magic had left the stadium for the rest of the series, as the Rays found themselves in an early hole.

What would follow was something that the Rays have not been able to do much in this amazing journey to the top. They put together an inning that knocked the wind out of the Red Sox nation. It was a six run seventh inning that put the Rays on top for good.

When asked what his thoughts were on the recent surge of great ball playing, Scott Kazmir said, “We’re hungry, I don’t know how else to explain it.”

In front of a sellout crowd of 36,048 fans, the Rays gained a 3 ½ game lead over the Red Sox in the American League East. While there is still another half of the season left to be played Rays fans should enjoy every minute of their rise to the top.

While the pressure will mount the longer they remain in first place, this group of ball players is just young enough, and just naïve enough to keep it going. They don’t seem to realize that they are not supposed to sweep the Red Sox twice in a season; it shouldn’t be this easy for them. "We're facing the best teams in baseball and getting their best shots and giving them back," B.J. Upton said.

Yes you are Mr. Upton, but how long can it last? How long before the Rays remember that they have been perennial bottom dwellers? The way this season has gone so far, the days of last place seem long behind this team of upstart players.

So look out MLB there is a team that came in this season to play some ball! Where and when it will end is uncertain. What is certain though is that something special is happening in Tampa Bay; it’s time that the rest of the leagues take notice.