The Tampa Bay Rays are still the story of the 2008 Major League Baseball season, but their young, raw hitters are having a devil of a time in the week before the All-Star break. During their current losing streak, which reached seven after Sunday’s 5-2 loss in Cleveland and caused them to fall out of first place, the Rays have managed only 13 runs. This comes after a streak in which they won 11 of 12 games, swept the Marlins and Red Sox and scored 82 runs. 

Lengthy droughts are often enigmatic to young, supremely talented hitters like Evan Longoria and B.J. Upton, but probably not to Joe Maddon. The 54-year-old manager of the Rays has not only watched his team win a total of 127 games in the previous two seasons, but also opposing pitchers develop more precise and effective game plans when they started winning.

The All-Star break wall is not unique to Tampa Bay either, as the trendy preseason World Series pick Arizona Diamondbacks have slipped below the .500 mark despite having two of the National League’s best starters.

Carl Crawford and B.J. Upton have combined to hit .184 with 11 strikeouts and just 2 stolen bases during the Rays’ current slide, while Evan Longoria has struck out 10 times in his last 24 at-bats since being voted into the All-Star game. The absence of shortstop Jason Bartlett, light-hitting as he may be, has also hindered the AL’s eighth ranked offense. Second baseman Akinori Iwamura and interim shortstop Ben Zobrist have combined for 1 RBI since Bartlett’s injury July 4th.

Dave DeIuliis will be a senior at Penn State’s School of Journalism. He can be reached at dmd5042@psu.edu.