The season was not supposed to go as it did for the Tampa Bay Rays. They made their offense more powerful, had a strong rotation and the bullpen was as strong as could be. However, despite the changes along with some individual and team successes, the Rays could not put runners across the plate and the strong rotation fed home run balls to opposing batters at an alarming rate.
It was on June 15, that the Rays were sitting just one game under .500 at 31-32, and only 5-1/2 games out of first place – the roller coaster was almost at the top of the peak where the Rays could meet up with Baltimore and Boston, before it all went awry.