Rays rise on speed, strength

The expectations are greater, and so is the competition. But the Rays finally are starting to prove last year was far from a fluke.

After a sluggish start, which fairly can be blamed on injuries -- among those placed on the disabled list in May alone, Pat Burrell (neck), Scott Kazmir (quad), Troy Percival (shoulder), Jason Bartlett (ankle), Akinori Iwamura (ACL) and Brian Shouse (elbow) -- the Rays had won nine of 10 and were a season-best nine above .500 before losing Wednesday to drop back to five games behind the Red Sox in the AL East.

They've revived their season with equal parts speed and strength. Entering Wednesday, they had 121 stolen bases -- the Angels (76) are second -- and 105 homers, making them the fifth team in history with 100 of each before the All-Star break.

That puts the Rays on pace for 248 stolen bases and 215 homers, which would make them the second member of the 200-200 club (1996 Rockies, 221 homers, 201 steals).

"It speaks to the athleticism of the group," manager Joe Maddon told the St. Petersburg Times. "Great combination of speed and power. Everybody looks at us and always talks about how fast we are and how well we run and all that stuff. I never heard the credit for the power, and that's good, that's fine because I know we have it."

Carlos Pena's 23 homers lead the AL, Evan Longoria and Ben Zobrist have 16 each, and 12 other Rays have gone deep.

Meanwhile, on the basepaths, Carl Crawford's 40 stolen bases are tops in the majors. Crawford, in fact, with a little hot streak could get back on pace to flirt with 100 steals, something that's been done only 20 times in history, and not since Vince Coleman swiped 109 in 1987.

Pitt swaps

It's not just Pirates fans -- allegedly, they still exist -- struggling to understand the latest round of transactions. The players are stunned, too.

"There are certain guys that you think are going to get traded. It's the ones who you think are a part of the future, those are the ones that get you. Those are the worst," shortstop Jack Wilson told MLB.com this week. "They are building something. Unfortunately, none of us here are kind of seeing that direction."

The Pirates on Tuesday shipped speedy outfielder Nyjer Morgan to the Nationals, just a few weeks after trading Gold Glove-winning center fielder Nate McLouth , a Muskegon native, to the Braves.

This comes a year after they sent Jason Bay to the Red Sox, for whom he's now having an MVP-caliber season, and Xavier Nady to the Yankees. That's four talented outfielders -- all 20-somethings on Trading Day; McLouth is 27, Morgan turns 28 today and neither one is on the brink of free agency -- gone with relatively little in return.

The acquisitions: outfielder Lastings Milledge , the No. 12 overall pick in 2003 who's been mostly a bust and a nuisance since debuting in '06, and right-handed reliever Joel Hanrahan , a second-round pick in 2000 whose 5.30 career ERA apparently made him marketable.

"Big risks, no question, but with big upside," general manager Neal Huntington told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "There are the kinds of things we have to do. We might miss."

Around the horn

MLB will pay tribute to Lou Gehrig on Saturday, with all home teams re-creating part of his "Luckiest Man" speech before the first pitch. It's an effort to raise awareness and funds for ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), the disease that killed the Yankees Hall of Famer. A "4ALS" logo will appear on first base, Gehrig's position; the bases later will be auctioned off at MLB.com.