Tampa Bay is in a spot it's never been before - playing games that matter in July and beyond - and it will be very intriguing to see how they hold up over the next couple of months of baseball.

Having endured a seven-game losing streak heading into the All-Star Break that cost them their division lead - which had grown to five full games before their skid - they've rebounded to surge back to the top of the American League East.  However, another lost Tuesday night leaves the Rays just a half game ahead of Boston and a mere three-and-a-half games in front of the suddenly-surging Yankees.

Every win beyond 70 will set a new single-single victory total for the Tampa Bay franchise, but those repeated record-setting performances will feel a bit empty if they don't lead to an unexpected playoff birth.  And unless you're a Yankee fan, you've got to be rooting for the Rays to bring post-season baseball to the Tampa area.

MLB tampa bay, rays, playoffs, new york, yankees, boston, red sox, american league east