The worst team in the majors less than a month ago, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays suddenly have baseball's longest current winning streak.
Aubrey Huff hit a three-run homer, Mark Hendrickson pitched into the eighth inning and the Devil Rays tied their franchise record with their sixth straight victory, 5-2 over the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night.
Heck, the Devil Rays aren't even in last place in the AL East anymore, jumping five percentage points ahead of Toronto, which lost at San Francisco.
''Every day we come to the yard, everybody's joking around, having a great time'' Huff said. ''Nobody's down, everybody's talking. It makes it a lot more fun. When you go out there and have fun, you're going to win a lot more ballgames.
''We were walking zombies the first month and a half of the year.''
The Devil Rays were 10-28 on May 19. They've gone 17-6 since May 20.