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May 14--ST. PETERSBURG -- As improbable as the Rays moving into first place with the best record in the American League might be, the way Tampa Bay secured those twin pinnacles Tuesday night was even more astonishing.
Gabe Gross, a defensive substitution in the seventh inning, drove home the run that lifted the Rays to previously unseen heights against no less than legendary closer Mariano Rivera, who hadn't allowed the opposition to score all season. So that 2-1 victory Gross secured by singling in pinch-runner Jonny Gomes in the bottom of the 11th was special in more ways than one.
"You're looking for growth moments?" said Rays manager Joe Maddon. "There's one right in front of your face tonight."
They keep on coming for the Rays, who survived a blown save by Troy Percival in the ninth inning and rallied to win for the second time in less than a week. Their 13-inning triumph in Toronto last Thursday wasn't quite as dramatic as this one, though.
Hideki Matsui's homer off Percival in the ninth made the Rays work a bit harder than they had anticipated after Edwin Jackson had out-dueled Chien-Ming Wang in regulation to give the bullpen a 1-0 lead, but they aren't fazed by much these days.
"I'm going to bend sometimes, but I just do my damnedest not to break," said Percival. "The confidence I have in this team is, I was out on that mound and what I told myself was, 'Don't give up two because our bullpen is strong and we've got a lot of heart.'"
That was evident in the 11th, with Rivera back on the mound for a second inning of work and 16 scoreless innings in hand this season. Cliff Floyd jumped on him right away, lining a single to right, and was replaced by Gomes, the hustling hero of Monday night's victory.
Gross stepped to the plate for his second at-bat of the game after replacing Eric Hinske in right field in the seventh inning. He watched ball one, then swung through a strike as Gomes took off for second base. He didn't get a great jump, but Jose Molina's throw bounced to Derek Jeter and Gomes slid in safely.
At that point, Gross' singular focus was getting the winning run to third. But Rivera caught a little too much of the plate with his next pitch, a cutter that was supposed to stay outside, and Gross drilled it back up the middle for the game-winning hit.
"He's the best, and has been for quite some time," Gross said of Rivera. "All I was really concentrating on was trying to get Jonny to third and hopefully we'd sneak a groundball through, sac fly, something like that to score him. In fact, it really didn't hit me that the game was over and we had won until I hit first and rounded it and realized that was it."
J.P. Howell once again picked up the win with his stellar relief work, but the foundation was laid by Jackson.
His outing merely continued a remarkable run by Tampa Bay's starting pitchers. Tuesday marked the fifth time in the last six games the Rays' starter has emerged without allowing a run. Over the last seven games, Rays starters have surrendered just six earned runs in 48 2/3 innings (a 1.11 ERA), with five of those runs charged to Andy Sonnanstine on Sunday.
Gator93 
