Thanks to solid pitching by James Shields and Scott Kazmir, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays won the second two of four games with the Detroit Tigers and even won the season series with the defending American League champs, 4-3.
The Rays have a long way to go to finish near .500 for the year, however. A pair of extended losing streaks have put them in a deep hole (44-70), and the pitching staff around Shields and Kazmir has been erratic at best--and the bullpen has been nothing short of horrendous.
The Rays gave up Ty Wigginton and a few minor leaguers to shore up the bullpen. Losing Wigginton from the batting lineup hurt (he was the cleanup hitter for much of this season), but improving the bullpen toward average should help the team tremendously.
If the team can get away from the sloppy defense that has been a trademark over the past month, the second half might look quite respectable.
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