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Roger Mooney

Roger Mooney covers the Tampa Bay Rays for The Tampa Tribune, TBO.com and News Channel 8. He has covered the Rays since their first season in 1998, including 11 years for the Bradenton Herald. Roger has also covered Florida, South Florida and Florida State football, the Bucs and the Lightning.

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Maddon goes ‘Blue’ in his pregame presser

Posted Sep 9, 2011 by Roger Mooney

Updated Sep 9, 2011 at 06:28 PM

ROGER MOONEY
ST. PETERSBURG Manager Joe Maddon can’t be too tight going into tonight’s game with the Red Sox if he’s willing to do his pregame interview with members of the Blue Man Group, right?

The BMG is here to throw out the first pitch and, apparently, put blue face paint on the noses of everyone they meet. They got Maddon. They got Don Zimmer, too.

Maddon, though did acknowledge the importance of this game, this series and the seven games the Rays play against the Red Sox during the last four weeks of the season.

For a team that trails the slumping Red Sox by 6 ½ games in the Wild Card standings heading into tonight’s tilt, they are very big.

“Huge,” Maddon said.

The Rays have to take two of three this weekend to have a chance – a sweep would be ideal. But anything less than winning the series and the Rays can basically forget about reaching the postseason.

“Obviously we have to make a big dent with them within those seven games, even a split doesn’t do as much good,” he said. “We have to be on our best behavior. We have to play our best baseball of the season, but I want us to do it one game at a time.”

The Rays are going to rely on their pitching and defense, Maddon said. But now would be a good time for the bats to show up.

“The clutch hit just has to show up a little more often,” Maddon said. “Really this season that’s been the one component of our team that has not been there with any kind of consistency. It’s just some kind of big hit tendency, we haven’t had that, so if it’s going to show up it needs to show up right now.”