Rays' Garza won't take backseat to Yankees

Baseball's best team came to town last night and lived up to its record. The Rays pitched, hit, fielded and ran better than the Yankees and looked very much like league leaders, despite their less impressive pedigree.

"I just wanted us to teach ourselves a lesson, which is to play well in this ballpark," Rays manager Joe Maddon said after a 10-6 win that snapped a seven-game losing streak in the new Yankee Stadium.

"We need to be playing better baseball here and we did that today. I thought we played a great game."

It extended the Rays' AL East lead to four games over the Yankees and improved baseball's best record to 29-11.

This is a young group but hardly one that needs to try and measure up against the defending champions.

"Looking at the standings, they should be comparing [themselves] to us," Matt Garza said. "We're four games up. Our numbers, staff-wise, are better than theirs. We've done our jobs, so why is there a need for a comparison? Because right now, we have found a winning formula."

Garza is in his fifth season in the majors despite being only 26, and he's one of the "veterans" in a rotation whose oldest pitcher, James Shields, is 28. Rookie Wade Davis struck out seven in 52/3 innings, lowering his rotation-worst ERA to 3.35; the Rays' 20-something starters are 22-6 with a 2.59 ERA.

"You could throw up a handful of cards that say ace on them and each one of us would grab one," said Shields, who starts Wednesday night. "I think it's kind of understood by now. One through five, I think people know we've got a pretty good staff. We're not trying to prove anything to anybody."

The fiery Garza got worked up when a reporter mentioned how young the Rays' starters are. On the Yankees, only Phil Hughes is younger than 28; the Giants and Padres each have three starters under 28.

"It's a totally different atmosphere up here, they're more used to the veteran guys," he said. "I guess we're just a breath of fresh air for everybody, opening eyes and maybe making people say, 'You know what - maybe we don't need to get the older guys. Maybe give the other guys a shot.' "

The Rays have done that, and now they have a decisive win in Yankee Stadium. They are 16-4 on the road.

"I really believe you have to play well in playoff venues, against the teams that are going to be there at the end," Maddon said. "It's a first step, it's one game, but it's a good step."