Friday, 4 a.m. If you want to measure the difference between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the victorious Columbus Blue Jackets, you can start small. “A half-second away” is how Ryan McDonaugh termed it. “A half-stride away.” “Two seconds here, two seconds there,” said Alex Killorn. The real distance in the Lightning’s 3-1 Game Two […]

Thursday, 4 a.m. Suddenly, the bats are recharged. For much of the early-season of the Tampa Bay Rays, they have lacked juice. There was no power, no consistency, no danger. Well, look who’s making the infielders back up these days. The Rays had another good night at the plate in Wednesday night’s 9-5 bashing of […]

Wednesday, 3 a.m. The Tampa Bay Rays are starting to get the hang of this playing-on-the-road thing. After losing their first five games as a visitor this season, the Rays won their second straight away from Tropicana Field Wednesday night, beating the Boston Red Sox, 8-2. The Rays led only 2-1 going into the sixth […]

Monday, 4 a.m. Here’s a thought: Maybe Michael Perez should celebrate a birthday every weekend. Maybe he should always have cake at his locker, and little party hats. He could have three, maybe four birthdays a week. And the, the Tampa Bay Rays might really have a good time. Perez, who turned 28 on Friday […]