Today's scenario seemed unimaginable less than two months ago.

With ace ace David Price on the mound, the Tampa Bay Rays will try to become only the fourth team in major league history to get back to .500 after being 18 games under.

The red-hot Rays (53-54) will try to sweep the National League Central first-place Milwaukee Brewers in a 12:10 p.m. game at Tropicana Field. Tampa Bay has won 11 of its last 12 games, including 2-1 and 5-1 decisions against Milwaukee the last two nights,  and and a majors-best 29 of their last 41.

"We're playing for the World Series," manager Joe Maddon told reporters Tuesday night. "That's our objective. It's been from Day 1. For me, it's to get to the playoffs and win the World Series, and that has not changed."

But it seemed like a pipe dream seven weeks ago. In early June, the Rays had the worst record in the majors. They were 24-42 on June 10, had lost 14 of 15, and the only buzz was about which team Price would be dealt to before the trade deadline.

Since then, Tampa Bay has had road trips of 9-2 and 7-1 and has climbed to within seven games of Baltimore in the American League East and 4 1/2 games of Toronto for the second wild-card berth.

And it appears slightly more likely than not that the Rays will hold onto Price, the 2012 AL Cy Young winner, rather than trade him by Thursday's non-waiver deadline. The Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Dodgers and Seattle Mariners are reportedly interested in Price, who is already making $14 million and will command an astronomical contract by 2016.

Price has won his last six starts, pushing his record to 11-7, and he has worked at least eight innings in six of those games. He leads the major leagues in strikeouts with 183.

The Brewers will counter today with righthander Yovani Gallardo, who is 5-5 and hasn't pitched his team to a win since June 19.