It has taken time, but the Tampa Bay Rays at long last have solidified themselves as a powerhouse in the ultra-tough American League East.

The Rays made it to the playoffs for the second time in three seasons in 2010, winning an AL-best 96 games and capturing the East title. Tampa Bay ran into a buzzsaw in the AL Division Series, falling to eventual AL pennant winner Texas.

Still, the Rays look every bit as powerful in 2011, and figure to challenge both the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox for supremacy in baseball’s toughest division. But free-agent losses will have to be made up by the existing roster, led by superstar third baseman Evan Longoria.

Two veterans who helped the Red Sox end their World Series curse in 2004 look to fuel the Rays in their first season on Florida’s West Coast. How much Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez have left in the tank will play a big role in whether the Rays’ offense can compensate for offseason losses. David Price returns to anchor a good starting rotation, but the bullpen features plenty of question marks.

The Rays play host to Baltimore to open the season on April 1. The first road game is April 7 at Chicago.

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The Tampa Bay Rays have signed Ramirez to a one-year contract worth just $2 million, which seems crazy cheap for a player of his caliber.

That said, Ramirez has  been a clubhouse problem the past few years, had trouble avoiding significant injuries, and has seen his power production slip.

Ramirez is likely to be the team’s designated hitter, and they are hopeful he can make up for some of the power production lost when Carlos Pena and Carl Crawford signed elsewhere.

Interestingly enough, Ramirez will have an old friend with him from his days with the Boston Red Sox, with Johnny Damon also signing a deal with the Rays.

Garza said he was caught off guard by all of the rumors about a trade floating around, but that he just let it take care of itself.

The right-hander can’t be displeased about heading over the National League, where his numbers are sure to get significantly better.

He also might be going to the better team after watching the Rays lose Carl Crawford and Carlos Pena in the offseason.

The Rays said that they really liked the deal because it fits in with their short term and long term goals for the club.

By winning the division title, the Rays will open up the playoffs by squaring off against the Texas Rangers.

The Rays have the advantage when it comes to starting pitching and the bullpen, but Texas is the better hitting club.

With that said, the Rangers are not nearly the same team if Josh Hamilton can’t overcome his rib injury.

There are also still questions surrounding Texas ace Cliff Lee and his back. If he isn’t 100 percent, the Rays should roll.

But from the look of it, the Rays plan on making all their noise on the field.

Behind James Shields’ brilliant performance, Tampa Bay took the rubber game of a three-game series with the New York Yankees, 3-0. The win pulled the Rays to within one game of the AL East leaders and defending World Series champions.

Shields went seven innings, shutting out the league’s best offense and striking out 11 en route to his 10th win of the season.It was a necessary performance, as Tampa Bay could muster only three runs against C.C. Sabathia and the Yankees bullpen. The Rays got to Sabathia early, scoring three runs over the second and third innings, but found the going difficult from then on out.

Carl Crawford went 2 for 4 with an RBI for the Rays.

Qualls made his first appearance for his new team, pitching 2/3 of an inning of scoreless baseball, handing the game over to closer Rafael Soriano, who promptly shut the door for his 30th save of the season.

It was the first no-hitter in franchise history despite the fact the Rays had been no-hit four times before.

Garza said it was time that someone on the team threw a no-hitter to give everyone some confidence.

He faced the minimum 27 batters, allowing just one walk and striking out six.

Garza gave credit to his defense for making a number of good plays to keep the no-hitter intact.

Despite the temptation to go make a big splash, the Rays will likely watch the deadline come and go without making a trade.

There has been some talk that the Rays should take a gamble and go for it all by acquiring Prince Fielder.

However, Fielder’s current price tag along with his impending free agency after the 2011 season make him a no-go for Tampa.

The Rays have a nice setup with a young team and a tremendous farm system and don’t want to trade away their top prospects for a short yet expensive rental.

But somebody forgot to tell the New York Yankees’ bats.

The New York offense battered one of the AL’s best, tagging Price for seven runs in five innings in a 9-5 win to take the rubber game of the weekend series. The Rays actually took a 3-0 lead in the first inning after Pena hit a three-run shot off Pettitte, but couldn’t score again until the seventh inning, when the game was all but over. This, despite the fact that the Yankees ace had to leave the game in the third inning after injuring his groin.

The lone bright spot for Tampa Bay was Pena, who went 2-for-5 with the homer and three RBI. The offense tallied 12 hits, but struck out 11 times.

Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano combined to go 4 for 7 with four RBI and three runs scored, including a solo shot from the third baseman.

In fact, they might even be playing better than back then as the team is clicking on nearly all cylinders.

The Rays have marched their way into first place with a substantial cushion between them and the rest of the division.

The starting pitching has been as good as advertised, and Rafael Soriano has really filled a hole in the back end of the bullpen.

The offense still isn’t as good as it could be, but some struggling players are starting to show signs of life.

Tampa Bay found itself trailing 5-3 heading into its last at-bat, but had runners on the corners with one out with Carlos Pena at the plate. With two strikes, Pena called for timeout but wasn’t awarded one by umpire Angel Hernandez, and an unprepared Pena struck out looking. Maddon rushed out of the dugout to argue and was promptly tossed by Hernandez.

Without their leader and down to their final out, the Rays found a way to escape the jaws of defeat. Toronto closer Kevin Gregg walked two consecutive batters to shrink the lead to one, and then Sean Rodriguez hit a bases-clearing double to give the Rays a 7-5 lead. Gregg walked a career-high five batters in the inning while surrendering just a single hit, and was ejected for yelling at Hernandez on his way to the dugout after being taken out of the game by manager Cito Gaston.

Vernon Wells pulled the Blue Jays within one with an RBI double, but Rays closer Rafael Soriano earned his 15th save in 15 chances by getting Jose Bautista to fly out to end the game.

The bullpen wasted a terrific performance by Toronto starter Brian Tallet, who came off the disabled list to pitch 5 2/3 shutout innings.

Grant Balfour got the win in relief for Tampa Bay. Rookie starter Jeff Niemann was bailed out after his worst outing of the season, surrendering nine hits and five runs in 6 1/3 innings.