If you want to make a short, convincing case that the first-place Tampa Bay Rays will inevitably fall behind the Yankees and the Boston Red Sox in the American League East, thus putting right the natural order in baseball, you'll have an easy time of it. Simply point to their offense: It isn't very good.
As of the start of play last night, the Rays were 10th in the league in scoring, a quarter of a run per game behind the Yankees and a half-run behind the Red Sox. Since the Rays' pitching and defense is barely better than that of their rivals — they're allowing 4.10 runs a game, against the Yankees' 4.23 and Boston's 4.14 — if everything holds even, a fall is probably coming.
Probably doesn't mean definitely, though, and there is hope for those who'd like to cheer on a team full of electric young players who among them make less money than the left half of the Yankee infield. The Rays don't have the firepower of the Yankees or Red Sox, but when you run the three teams down position by position, there's a plausible case to be made that the Rays can hang the rest of the way.