Rays drops Yankees into last in the East

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Music blared in the Tampa Bay clubhouse and four large, flat-screen televisions mounted around a column in the middle of the room were tuned to the same in-house channel displaying the American League East standings.

The surprising Rays are on top, and the sputtering Yankees are on the bottom. No one was gloating, though.

“I want us to celebrate hard for 30 minutes postgame and then move on. I want us to dwell on a loss for no more than 30 minutes,” Manager Joe Maddon said after Thursday’s 5-2 victory dumped New York into the cellar.

Scott Kazmir (2-1) gave up three singles in six scoreless innings in his first start since agreeing to a $28.5-million contract extension, and Akinori Iwamura and Shawn Riggans homered off Ian Kennedy (0-3) to help Tampa Bay win for the seventh time in eight games.

Tampa Bay (24-17), which started play in 1998, has been alone atop the division standings for three consecutive days for the first time. The Rays won three of four from New York and have won six of seven series. The Yankees (20-22) have lost six of nine.