And more importantly, Maddon has been able to find the right answers to his bullpen questions the first two games.

It is a volatile mixture that he has to blend. It blew up in the Rays' face in Game 5 of the AL Championship Series at Boston when, seven outs from elimination, the Red Sox began a comeback from a 7-0 deficit and battered Dan Wheeler, the reliever Maddon has the most confidence in with closer Troy Percival not around. The Red Sox pulled out an 8-7 win, eventually forcing a Game 7 showdown that the Rays won, 3-1.

That game did serve as a wakeup call to Maddon. It made him realize that for all that Wheeler has done to get the Rays where they are, he has worn out and every out he gets right now is a bonus. It made him admit to himself that even though Percival's injuries have him sidelined, he couldn't count on Wheeler to close out wins in the postseason.

Problem was there wasn't a legitimate alternative on a team that was so unstructured in its bullpen that while Percival had a team-best 28 saves, there were five others who had multiple saves.

Things, however, are working out for the Rays. They made an in-season decision of a team in the building process, found themselves gambling with rushing a young arm down the stretch and are three wins away from hitting the jackpot thanks to the quick maturation of David Price.

Price, the first player taken in the 2007 draft, arrived in the big leagues less than a month after his 23rd birthday, and with only 19 games of minor-league experience. He finds himself in October on center stage.

After making five September appearances — a start and four relief assignments — he earned his first big-league victory against Boston in the ALCS, and then picked up his first professional save in the Game 7 victory against the Red Sox that sent the Rays into the World Series.

And he's not done yet.

With Maddon knowing he had to win Game 2, and James Shields showing signs of fatigue after 5 2/3 shutout innings, Maddon had to go to the bullpen early. Wheeler got him out of a sixth-inning jam, and retired the first two batters in the seventh.

Then the call went out to Price. He provided the final seven outs in the first World Series victory in Rays history.

There were some shaky moments, including a wakeup call in the eighth when Eric Bruntlett came off the bench and Price tried to slip a 97 mph fastball by him on the first pitch only to see Bruntlett turn the pitch into a shutout-ending home run.

Price, however, didn't break.

And neither have the Rays.

They have been surprising baseball people, including their own, all season.

Now they are just hoping they can find three more wins before the magic coach they have been riding becomes a pumpkin.