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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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Price’s job tonight: stop Rays’ five-game losing streak

Posted Aug 9, 2010 by Tribune Sports

Updated Aug 9, 2010 at 10:58 AM

By TONY FABRIZIO

DETROIT David Price will make his second attempt at becoming the first 15-game winner in Rays history tonight against the Tigers, but that’s only his second objective.

The most important thing is to help the Rays stop their season-high five-game losing streak.

The skein started last Wednesday with a 2-1 loss to the Twins at home in which Price allowed only one run on five hits over seven innings.

It continued with an 8-6 loss to the Twins the next day in which Jason Kubel’s infield popup clanked off a Tropicana Field catwalk, and it grew to include a three-game sweep at Toronto over the weekend.

The Rays lost the opener in the series 2-1, gave up eight home runs in a 17-11 loss Saturday and needed Evan Longoria’s ninth-inning, two-out single Sunday to keep from being no-hit for the third time this season in a 1-0 loss.

Price has won his only two starts against the Tigers, beating them 3-1 last August at Comerica Park and 4-2 on July 29 at Tropicana Field to complete a four-game Tampa Bay sweep.

“That’s where I got my first road win a year ago, so I like pitching there,” Price said of the Tigers’ downtown stadium. “It is a big park. The weather is usually (favorable). I like it being a little chilly, and that’s how it is in Detroit.”

Price (14-5, 2.82 ERA) is tied with James Shields (2008), Edwin Jackson (2008) and Rolando Arrojo (1998) for having the most wins in a season for the Rays. He’s also tied with the Yankees’ C.C. Sabathia and the Twins Carl Pavano for most wins in the American League.

Breaking the franchise record in only his second full major league season hasn’t been something Price has focused on.

“Obviously it would be something great to have, but I don’t want to stop at 15,” Price said. “I don’t to stop at 14. I want to keep going. I don’t know how many starts I have left, but I plan on winning every single one of them.”

The Rays will face an injury-depleted Tigers club that has lost 20 of its lost 26 games to fall nine games out of the race in the AL Central. Right fielder Magglio Ordonez is still out, but third baseman Brandon Inge returned last week, and second baseman Carlos Guillen is expected back tonight.

Opposing Price is Armando Galarraga (3-4, 4.32), who been so-so since umpire Jim Joyce’s blown call cost him a perfect game June 2 against the Indians.

Rays manager Joe Maddon doesn’t think the Tigers will be particularly worked up about getting swept by the Rays July 26-29.

“Honestly, I don’t know to what level major league teams think in those terms,” Maddon said. “We’re so day-to-day oriented. …

“Of course, they did not want to lose all those games down there. I know it’s been a hard time for them, too. … (But) . I don’t necessarily look at it like all of a sudden they’re going to play any harder against us because we beat the ma couple of times.”