The Tampa Bay Rays have just a little over two weeks left of baseball and the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles are not slowing down. With little time left, the Rays have pushed themselves 6.5 games back in the American League East and 5.5 from the second place Wild Card spot. With this deficit, the Rays could kiss their postseason hopes goodbye.
At the start of last week, the Rays were just two games away from the Orioles in the Wild Card. After a three-game series at the hands of the O's, the Rays were four games back. On September 18 they were six games back and are currently 5.5 from the Wild Card. (This story was published before the Orioles finished their game in Seattle. So it could be six games of five games.)
How did it happen? It was in a blink of an eye. The Rays' dynamic pitching failed them, but mostly, their offense proved to be weak down the stretch as an often injured Evan Longoria could not do it all. B.J. Upton proved clutch at times, but it was not sufficient as the Rays could not keep up with a red hot Yankees team and an Orioles team that does not know what it is to lose consecutive games.
The Yankees are on a four-game win streak and the O's have won three in a row. They caught the Rays at a vulnerable point where they went on a losing binge. Tampa Bay lost seven of eight not including Wednesday's 13-3 win over the Red Sox.
Mathematically speaking, the Rays are still in it. Their elimination number is eight in the AL East and nine in the Wild Card. However, it will take a 2007 New York Mets team to blow a lead like that.
Let's face it. The O's and the Yankees are not the 2007 Mets.
The O's look like they have a playoff appearance, at least a Wild Card showdown, in the books as they are tied at the top with the Oakland Athletics in the Wild Card.
September will not have the same magical feel that it had late last season when the Rays clawed their way into the playoffs. The only thing that could make 2012 more memorable than 2011 is a comeback, but the Rays have dug themselves in a hole too deep to climb.
They have the Blue Jays, Red Sox, White Sox and Orioles as their last matchups in 2012.
By the time the Rays get to Chicago, their season might be over.
