Garza, Rays looking for breathing room

Wednesday, September 17, 2008 | Feedback | Print Entry

The Rays always seem to do what they need to do, and after their walk-off victory Tuesday, they now have a chance to create a little buffer between themselves and Boston. If they win tonight, they will have a two-game lead in the standings, but their lead will effectively be three games, because the Rays would own the tiebreaker if they finished with the same record as Boston, based on a 10-8 record against the Red Sox in the regular season.

Matt Garza will take the ball for the Rays, nearing the end of what has been a season of remarkable growth for the right-hander. On June 8, Garza was 4-3 with a 4.38 ERA, and he got into a face-to-face confrontation with catcher Dioner Navarro -- the first taking place on the mound, and then in the dugout. What they were scrapping about was Garza's inability to contain his emotions as he pitched.  
 

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  • Buster Olney Buster Olney

    Buster Olney is a senior writer at ESPN The Magazine. He began covering baseball in 1989, as the Nashville Banner's beat reporter assigned to the Triple-A Nashville Sounds. Later, he covered the San Diego Padres (1993-94), the Baltimore Orioles ('95-96), the New York Mets ('97) and the Yankees ('98-2001). Olney joined ESPN The Magazine in 2003, after six years at The New York Times, and he's the author of the Times' best-seller "The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty," a book about the Paul O'Neill-Tino Martinez Yankees dynasty of 1996-01.

    He grew up in central Vermont collecting baseball cards and listening to Red Sox, Expos, Phillies and Pirates radio broadcasts, and was a rabid fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He graduated from Vanderbilt University the same year as hoops legend Will Perdue, and ranks among the all-time leading scorers in pickup basketball at Memorial Gym. He claims to have witnessed the Commodores' winning football season in 1982 (although anthropologists have not yet confirmed this).

    Olney also contributes to ESPN.com, ESPN Radio, ESPNEWS, "SportsCenter" and "Baseball Tonight."

    Follow Buster on Twitter: @Buster_ESPN

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