Celtics utilize big advantage - They hold on to lead and tie series

CLEVELAND — No lead is safe. Chewing up and spitting out Boston’s leads in the regular season and in the first game of their Eastern Conference semifinal series, the Cavaliers had made that clear.

The Celtics needed to prove to themselves and the Cavs that some leads were indeed insurmountable. So, they piled it as high as they could. Ray Allen fired arrows at the rim. The Celtics suffocated the Cavs for 45 minutes, and the whistles that had gone Cleveland’s way early started to blow in favor of the Celtics.

The Celtics’ lead ballooned to 25 points with 9:07 left after Kevin Garnett put back his own miss. The margin seemed too big and time seemed too slim.

The witnesses that showered LeBron James with cheers as he accepted the MVP award before tipoff last night headed for home. They missed the Cavs deconstruct the Celtics’ lead in minutes, going on a 15-0 run with James and J.J. Hickson leading the charge.

“We were stuck on 91 points for an hour it felt like,’’ said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. “I just kept telling our guys ‘the clock is still moving.’ We need one bucket. We just need somebody to make one shot.’ ’’

Paul Pierce got a finger roll to go with 3:28 left and by the time Garnett drained a 19-footer with 1:14 remaining the Celtics could let down their guard. They had finally built a lead the Cavs couldn’t recover from. At that point, the remaining fans began to clear out, refusing to watch the Celtics finish off a 104-86 Game 2 victory.

After letting a winnable series opener slip away, the Celtics left Cleveland with a split with three days to rest before the series resumes Friday.

“We knew what happened last time when we let up,’’ said Kendrick Perkins. “Doc said we’ve got to keep taking punches. When they throw punches we’ve got to take them and keep coming.’’

Allen’s 22 points had taken the air out of the Q Arena. He took just two shots in the fourth quarter of the Game 1 loss, and Rivers stressed the importance of getting Allen open.

He weaved around the court for 39 minutes. Cleveland tried to chase him with as many bodies as possible — James, Mo Williams, Anthony Parker, Delonte West — but they couldn’t stop him from drilling 8 of 15 shots and nailing 3 of 7 3-pointers.

In his ongoing quest to erase Bob Cousy from the Celtics’ record book, Rajon Rondo set the franchise’s postseason record for assists in a game with 19, tying the 19 he put up in triple overtime against Chicago in the first round last season.

The Celtics shot 51.3 from the floor and held the Cavs to 40 percent. They kept James boxed in most of the night, allowing him just five first-half shots and holding him to a modest 24 points.

Rasheed Wallace, who Rivers said “has to be better,’’ responded with his biggest game of the postseason. He had a team-high 13 points at the break and was a perfect 5 for 5 from the floor (and 3 for 3 on 3-pointers) with two rebounds.

The Celtics piled up a lead despite turnovers and the officials early on.

The Cavs shot just 42.1 percent in the first half, but the Celtics kept finding ways to put the ball back in Cleveland’s hands.

The Celtics turned it over 19 times for 23 points. The Celtics were whistled for 16 fouls in the first half compared with Cleveland’s four. The Cavs went the entire second quarter without a foul, and from West’s foul late in the first quarter to James’s foul in the third, the Cavs went 19 minutes 26 seconds without having a whistle blown against them.

That the Cavs would make a run was a given. How the Celtics would respond was the challenge.

“We knew they were going to make a run because they’re at home and they’re a good team,’’ said Garnett. “But I thought we withstood that and made a run of our own and shut the game down after that.’’

When the focus withered and the Celtics looked as if they’d give back a lead they spent three quarters building, a light bulb went on.

“When we went up, we kind of relaxed like we were surprised that we were up,’’ said Glen Davis, who scored 6 points in 13 minutes. “We’ve got to know that we’re a great team. We’ve got to know that we’re a team that can play with this team, the Cavaliers. We can’t give them any hope. We can’t give them any sunlight. We’ve got to let them know we’re going to beat them.’’

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Starting rotation may make Tampa Bay Rays virtually slump-proof

ST. PETERSBURG — In case you had not noticed, Rays hitters have cooled off.

Carlos Peña is hitless in his past 12 at-bats with seven strikeouts. B.J. Upton is 0-for-13 with four strikeouts. Tampa Bay has scored seven runs in its past 31 innings, which sounds even worse when you know the Rays scored 42 in the previous 31.

So it's entirely reasonable to wonder if a tremendous start is about to go splat. To worry if the law of baseball averages, or maybe the curse of Vinny Castilla, is finally catching up to Tampa Bay.

Except for this:

The Rays squeezed out a 1-0 win against Kansas City on Sunday and in the previous two games had the potential winning run at the plate in the final inning. And what, you may ask, does this prove?

That the way this starting rotation is pitching, the Rays are pretty slump-resistant.

This doesn't mean Tampa Bay is infallible. It doesn't mean there won't be rough stretches ahead. In fact, this upcoming nine-game, West Coast trip looks particularly heinous.

But as long as this rotation continues to perform up to expectations, the Rays should be immune from the kind of 2-8 cold spells that can be disastrous in the American League East.

"On a nightly basis, our position players, our team, the manager, the coaches believe, when they look out on the mound, that we have a really good chance of winning," manager Joe Maddon said. "That is a great feeling.

"Our starting pitchers give us a good feeling every night."

At this point, a better feeling than any other rotation in the AL. Tampa Bay starters have a better record (14-3) and a lower ERA (2.64) and have averaged more innings (61/3 per start) than any group in the league.

Is there anything a manager wants more out of life?

"Nothing," Maddon said. "Nothing.

"Honestly, the game could have been called pitching. Easily. It could have been called pitching as opposed to baseball, and they would have been absolutely correct."

Good starting pitching forgives all manner of sins. You have a bullpen that is missing one of its top relievers? It doesn't hurt nearly as much when your starters are consistently pitching into the seventh inning. You have an offense that struggles against left-handers? It isn't quite so worrisome when you're capable of winning 3-2 or 2-1 games.

The truth is, the Rays rarely lose as long as they get the bare minimum out of the offense. Since the beginning of last season, Tampa Bay is 89-20 (.817) when scoring four runs or more. That's the best winning percentage in the majors in those types of games.

"Really good starting pitching gives you a chance to win every single ball game. There's no secret to that," Peña said. "It just gives you a little bit of breathing room.

"We get to the ballpark every day knowing if we execute a play here or there, or get a big hit here or there, we've got ourselves a shot at winning the ball game."

This is the way the franchise was constructed, and it's pretty much the easiest way a low-revenue team can be a legitimate contender.

It costs too much money to build a lineup as potent as the Yankees, but the Rays can develop enough young pitchers to make it work.

The average age of Tampa Bay's five starters is 26. The average salary is $1.65 million.

Or, another way to look at it:

The Rays' rotation is making $8.28 million this season. The Yankees' rotation is making $63.19 million.

"It's an extremely talented group. Between the combination of age and talent, I don't think there's anybody that can match them," pitching coach Jim Hickey said. "There may be a more talented rotation, there may be better top-end type of pitchers, but for the most part, those are the Halladays and the Sabathias who are 31 or 32 years old. It's hard to find our entire package."

The key is that no one appears to be pitching above his head. If anything, most of these guys have not reached their peak.

Matt Garza should be better than he was in 2009. David Price will certainly be better than he was as a rookie. Wade Davis, who threw seven shutout innings against the Royals on Sunday, is improving from start to start.

In between starts, Hickey and Davis worked to remove some of the mechanical flaws from the right-hander's delivery and get him moving forward and backward instead of side to side. Davis said he could feel the difference Sunday, and when he started to get out of synch and walked David DeJesus to put two men on in the fifth, Hickey came to the mound to remind him of that.

One pitch later, Davis was out of the inning.

"We've got five skillful guys," Maddon said. "Five very skillful starters.

"I don't see anybody as exceeding expectations right now."

by John Romano, St. Pete Times Columnist

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No More "What If" Time for the Tampa Bay Rays

by Adam Markowitz

I know that it's only April, but shouldn't we take a second to step back and realize just how good the Tampa Bay Rays have been this season? After all, they're an MLB best 17-5 overall, easily the best road team in the game at 9-1, have a +69 run differential, which is almost double the differential of any other team in the bigs, they're #1 in offense at 6.45 runs per game, #5 in team ERA at 3.18, and for my money, they just happen to be the most exciting, young team to watch in arguably any sport in this country.



Let's remember that two years ago, Tampa Bay took the "Devil" out of its name and suddenly became a legitimate contender, winning 97 games, the AL East title, and the American League pennant before getting dumped in the World Series by the Philadelphia Phillies.



To win 84 games in 2009 and finish third in the AL East standings behind the almighty Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees was nothing to be ashamed of for the new sweethearts of baseball. However, let's look at where we were at this time last year, shall we?



At April 30th, 2009, Tampa Bay was 9-14, 5.5 games behind the Sox for the top spot in the division and 3.5 games in the rear view mirror of the Yankees. If you fast forward to the end of June, the Rays were then 44-35, an improvement of 14 games in relation to where they were at two months prior to it, and they were right there, just four games back of Boston and 1.5 of New York. On August 9th, Tampa Bay was 61-50, and though New York had already gone on its insane run to put the division championship out of reach, the boys from Beantown were only 1.5 games in the distance.



That's when it all broke loose for Tampa Bay. The Rays lost three straight games to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, then traded LHP Scott Kazmir, and ultimately ended up going on an 11 game tailspin that wrecked the remainder of their season.



Now, let's start to talk about the significance of April once again. The Rays jumped out to the division lead and never looked back in 2008. In 2009, had they gotten off to the 17-5 start that they have now as opposed to the 9-14 they were at this time last year, they would've been in front of Boston that entire time, probably never would've lost confidence and gone on that ridiculous 11 game losing streak, Kazmir would still be in Tampa Bay, Wade Davis might've been traded for San Diego Padres 1B Adrian Gonzalez, the Rays would've probably won the AL Wild Card, taken out the Angels, and had an epic seven game clash with the Yankees for the right to play the Phillies once again in the World Series.



Ok, so maybe I'm being a little overdramatic here. But still, most of the "baseball people" out there realize that the Rays were the best 84 team that they ever saw in 2009. Some of it was scheduling... after all, who the hell wants to play New York and Boston for a combined 38 of your 162 games? Some of it was the fact that the team probably wasn't as strong in '08 as they played.



But if you look at the young core of the Rays and what Manager Joe Maddon has put together, this was the year that the team was shooting at. 2010 was designed to be Tampa Bay's year. It was the year before LF Carl Crawford tested the free agent waters, and was before guys like Kazmir, RHP Matt Garza, RHP James Shields, and the sorts started inching closer to their contract years. The time is now for Tampa Bay.



So though it's fun to play the "What If" game with the 2009 Tampa Bay Rays, it'll be a lot more fun for the 2010 edition of the team to not have to ask any such questions.



Feel the heat, my friends. Feel the heat.

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Maddon get hoodie from Patriots coach Belichick

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP)—Joe Maddon and Bill Belichick are now boys in the hoodie.

Fresh off being told by Major League Baseball that he could keep wearing his favorite jacket, Maddon got a new one Wednesday—the Tampa Bay Rays manager received a personalized Patriots hoodie in the mail from the New England coach.

Belichick usually wears hoodies when he’s on the sideline. The jacket he sent Maddon has “J.M.” on the front.

“Very cool,” Maddon said.

“It’s quite an accomplishment, quite an achievement to get something from a coach who’s won the Super Bowl,” Maddon said.

Don’t look for Maddon to wear the Patriots hoodie during a game. That would certainly lead to a fine from MLB officials, he said with a smile.

Instead, Maddon will display the hoodie in his office. He also plans to send Belichick a Tampa Bay hoodie.

Earlier this month, MLB said Maddon and other managers and coaches could only wear approved jerseys or outerwear. A few days later, baseball reversed the ruling.

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Tampa Bay's Navarro disciplined

Tampa Bay Rays catcher Dioner Navarro has been suspended for two games and fined an undisclosed amount.

The suspension and fine was the result of his inappropriate conduct, including making contact with umpire Dan Bellino, during the top of the sixth inning of the April 23 game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Tropicana Field, according to a press release.

Navarro is scheduled to serve his suspension during Tampa Bay's games on Tuesday and Wednesday night against the Oakland Athletics at Tropicana Field.

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Price is Right for Tampa Bay Rays

by

JC De La Torre

Written on April 26, 2010

As the number four starter, young David Price is opening some eyes here in the early going of the 2010 season.

With the most wins in the AL (3), 4th in strike outs (26), and 5th in innings pitched, (28.2) to go along with a solid 2.20 ERA, Price has started to become the dominant pitcher the Rays hoped they were getting when they drafted him first overall in 2007.

In last night's game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Price was good—scary good. Mowing down 9 Jays while scattering four hits and allowing just a single walk, he gave Toronto no chance to beat Tampa Bay.

That's what you expect out of Roy Halladay, not the number four starter in your line up.

"He probably pitched the best against us [this season]," Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston told the Associated Press. "He threw strikes. He kept the guys off balance. He just had good stuff."

Price earned his first career shutout and complete game, while turning in his third quality start in four tries.

His only hiccup was a five inning stint in Chicago where he gave up three runs, six hits, and walked three.

"Now I know what it takes," Price told the Associated Press. "I've been there and I've done that now. I've got that first little taste in my mouth. Now I want more. On this staff, five or six innings isn't enough. We want to go seven, eight or nine, and that's what these guys have been doing all year."

The Rays pitching staff has the best winning percentage in the majors and is tied for the most victories. Their 2.81 ERA is 4th best in the Majors and their 100 strike outs is second in the American League.

Price is tied with Matt Garza for the team lead in victories and leads the team in strikeouts. He only trails Garza in ERA among starting pitchers.

If Price can continue to give Tampa Bay solid performances, the Rays' ownership of the best record in baseball could continue for quite a while.

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