These aren't the Devil Rays anymore

Time to wonder if the Tampa Bay Rays are for real. They won 8 of 9 before a first-place showdown at Fenway Park with the world champs the weekend of May 1-3. They lost the series opener to the Boston Red Sox, falling a game out of first place.

It's already looking like the best season in team history, which isn't hard to achieve for a team that was 645-972 in its first 10 seasons. Tampa Bay's best season was 70-91 in 2004.

"It's been one of the best weeks in franchise history. We're going to try to keep it going," outfielder Carl Crawford told the Associated Press. "We got that feeling of winning, and we kind of like it. Everybody feels the same way."

Why they're winning:

• Maturing starters. James Shields is turning into an ace, and presumed ace lefty Scott Kazmir hasn't even pitched yet this season - he's scheduled to start May 3. Matt Garza, Andy Sonnanstine and Edwin Jackson aren't worse than most of the rest of the league has in its rotations. Right now, if you could give me the Rays' starting rotation or the Yankees, I'd actually take the Rays.
• Improved bullpen. It didn't look like a strength before the season, but 38-year-old Troy Percival saved his first five chances and has been a stabilizing force.
• Better defense. It's a complicated formula, but David Pinto of the Sporting News calculates that the Rays' defenders are more than two runs better than last year.
• Dropping the "devil." There are certainly those who will give this credence, as preposterous as it sounds. I don't put much stock in it, but to each his own.

Raysmanager Joe Maddon is taking an approach of cautious optimism, and I wouldn't make any World Series reservations for Tropicana Field, but the first winning season in team history is certainly realistic.