Mark J. Rebilas/US Presswire

Jeff Niemann leads the Rays' staff with seven wins after beating Roy Halladay on Monday.

By Peter Gammons, ESPN

Roy Halladay failed to complete seven innings for the first time all season Monday. Hey, when you're playing the Yankees, Red Sox and Rays 50-something times a season, these things will happen.

What was significant is that Halladay lost to Jeff Niemann, who almost got waived in spring training and now has a staff-leading seven wins for the Rays. He consistently threw his curveball for strikes to keep Toronto's left-handed hitters off his power sinker, two days after Scott Kazmir came off his rehab and dominated.

Accept this reality: One of the three best teams in the American League is not going to make the playoffs because the three best teams are, in no particular order, the Yankees, Red Sox and Rays. Tampa Bay has the best record in the league since April and, with another win over Toronto on Tuesday, is in the midst of a seven-game winning streak. The Rays lead the league with 434 runs. Their plus-90 run differential is the best in the league; Boston is second at plus-74. They're third in homers and first in steals, are easily the most athletic team in the AL East, and probably can run on Boston and New York. Plus, their OPS is tied with that of the Yankees for the league lead and now that Jason Bartlett is back, the Rays have the best defense in the league.

With Kazmir's delivery apparently fixed and Niemann emerging, with Matt Garza sure to get out of his slump and James Shields reliable (Garza and Shields are better than their combined 11-10 record) and David Price working on his fastball command, the rotation is poised for a three-month run. Tampa cannot afford to take on a veteran closer, so manager Joe Maddon will have to mix and match as he did last year.

"They are the team the Red Sox and Yankees fear the most because of the athleticism," one AL general manager says. "B.J. Upton and Carl Crawford are unique, game-changing players who bring dynamics the other teams don't have."

The next time the Rays have to deal with the Northeast Corridor monsters is a three-game series with the Yankees starting July 27 and two games with Boston on Aug. 4-5.

Meanwhile, may the Rays MVP so far, Ben Zobrist, please be in the All-Star Game? Few players could possibly be more valuable, competently playing everywhere but catcher and pitcher, leading the league in OPS, on a 35-homer pace. That's not bad for a guy who, going into this season, had 38 career homers in the major and minor leagues. He leads the AL in OPS, has 16 homers and is on base more than 40 percent of the time.

Past Baseball Tonight Clubhouses: June 29 | June 28 | June 25 | June 24 | June 23

TOUCH 'EM ALL

Who went deep? Keep track of all the home runs hit each day on "Baseball Tonight" and on the Baseball Tonight Clubhouse page.

For more, check out the Home Run Tracker page.

Home Run Tracker
NAME	HR	OPP	PITCHER	SITUATION
B. Upton, TB	7	Tor	Richmond	Top 1: 0-0, 0 Outs. None on.
K. Youkilis, Bos	13	Bal	Hill	Top 1: 1-2, 1 Outs. 1 on.
P. Konerko, CWS	13	Cle	Lee	Top 1: 1-2, 0 Outs. 1 on.
C. Crawford, TB	8	Tor	Richmond	Top 3: 2-1, 1 Outs. None on.
T. Hafner, Cle	8	CWS	Richard	Bot 2: 2-1, 2 Outs. None on.
D. Wright, NYM	5	Mil	Burns	Top 1: 2-0, 1 Outs. 1 on.
J. Ellsbury, Bos	4	Bal	Hill	Top 4: 1-1, 0 Outs. None on.
I. Kinsler, Tex	19	LAA	Saunders	Bot 1: 2-2, 0 Outs. None on.
M. Byrd, Tex	6	LAA	Saunders	Bot 1: 1-2, 0 Outs. 1 on.

The complete list of Tuesday's homers

ON DECK: WEDNESDAY'S BEST MATCHUPS

Rays at Blue Jays, 1:07 p.m. ET

Ricky Romero is coming off a solid June. The rookie left-hander went 3-1 with a 2.36 ERA in June. He is coming off his best performance, when he tossed seven two-hit innings against the Phillies in a 6-1 win.

Red Sox at Orioles, 1:35 p.m. ET

Josh Beckett is on a roll, having won seven of his past eight decisions, but Brad Bergesen has been even a bit better. He has won his past four decisions and, since May 24, has dropped his ERA from 5.49 to 3.77.

Giants at Cardinals, 8:15 p.m. ET, ESPN

Matt Cain had his seven-game winning streak snapped his last time out when he was hit hard by the Brewers. He already has beaten the Cardinals once, winning 4-2 on May 29. Adam Wainwright got plenty of help in June; in three of his five starts, St. Louis scored at least 11 runs.

For the rest of Wednesday's schedule, click here.