Rays happy to be home after rough trip

ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays are glad to be back at Tropicana Field after going 0-5 against D-backs and Dodgers on their road trip.

"Normally, I like going out there," said manager Joe Maddon, who spent 31 years coaching with the Angels. "The weather is always great. I got to see Pasadena for the first time. Very cool vibe, but they did not treat us kindly."

Not long ago, the Rays were the hottest team in baseball, but the trip marked the first time since 2008 that they have come back from a multi-series road swing without a win.

"We're not playing our best right now," David Price said. "We played extremely well before that, and it put us in the position we're in right now. Even though we've struggled over the last week, we're still in a very good position at the end of the year. We need to attack every game like we have so far, and we'll find ourselves in a good spot for the last week of the season."

The future appears bright in Tampa Bay as two former pieces of the starting rotation, Alex Cobb and Matt Moore, are poised to return from the disabled list before the Rays leave for Baltimore next week.

When the Rays briefly gained an edge on the Red Sox for first place in the American League East, their starters had thrown a handful of complete games. Price was the only starter to pitch into the fifth inning on the road trip.

"The pitching is in a pretty good spot," Maddon said. "We just need to get [Cobb and Moore] back out there, and when we do, everything kind of works off of that."