My Two Cents: Everything Going Right in Rays' Historic Win Streak to Open Season
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — There is no stat-driven sport quite like baseball, and the historians can basically tell you anything about any game at any time.
So when the Tampa Bay Rays started off this season with six straight wins all by four runs or more, some digging needed to be done. We had to go back ... and back ... and back.
All the way to 1884. Yes, that's EIGHTEEN-84.
Stunningly, no one does what the Rays have done —six straight wins to open the season, all by four runs or more — since a team called the St. Louis Maroons did in a league called the Union Association, which was the ''big leagues'' back then.
No one. Ever. Just amazing.
But the Rays have done it, beating the Detroit Tigers 4-0, 12-2 and 5-1. and then going to Washington and beating the Nationals 6-2, 10-6 and 7-2.
Some will scoff that the Rays are benefiting from an easy schedule, with the Tigers and Nationals picked to finish last in their respective divisions. But no games are gimmies in baseball, where almost everyone wins 60 or loses 60. The world-champion Houston Astros can attest to the fact that there are no walkovers, since they lost to the Tigers — twice, no less — earlier this week.
The Rays look to keep the streak alive on Friday night at Tropicana Field, when they host the Oakland Athletics in the first of a three-game series. And the message was clear in the Rays' locker room during pregame media availability.
"It's still early,'' was a common theme. "We're not surprised,'' was another. The Rays are close-knit, confident team with all the pieces. They're not expecting to win every game, but they're always going to show up every day to win that game.
So don't put it past them to get to 7-0 on Tuesday night. And so on, and so on. This is a confident bunch firing on all cylinders right now.
“From top to bottom, our entire roster is contributing in a positive way,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "When you win six games out of the gate, a lot of people have got to do good things. Our pitching has been great, and maybe that shouldn't surprise a lot of people.
"But we've had a lot of our young guys step up, too, and that was certainly a concern in the spring, how the young guys would hit. We've had a lot of really good at-bats, and a lot of production.''
The Rays have outscored the opposition 44-13, and their plus-31 run differential is the best in baseball. It's a whopping 16 runs better than anyone else in the American League. They've also hit 13 home runs, best in the American League.
Tampa Bay's Josh Lowe (15) celebrates with Isaac Paredes (17) after hitting a solo home run in the ninth inning against the Washington Nationals in Tuesday's win. (Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports)
Tampa Bay's starting pitching has been fabulous, which is no surprise. In their first four starts, Shane McClanahan, Zach Eflin, Jeffrey Springs and Drew Rasmussen combined to allow just one earned run over 23 innings, an 0.39 earned run average. They had 30 strikeouts and just three walks.
They all push each other, and they are each other's biggest fans, too.
"We all pull really hard for each other,'' said Rays left-hander Jeffrey Springs, who pitched six hitless innings against Detroit, striking out 12. "We know guys are going to do their thing and I'm going to show up and do my thing (Wednesday) when it's my turn.
Fifth-starter Josh Fleming in his one outing, allowing five runs in just three innings? How did the Rays deal with that? They only scored five runs in the ninth for a comeback win, getting home runs from youngsters Luke Raley and Josh Lowe, and veteran Yandy Daiz in the 10-6 win.
The common theme in the offseason was that Rays didn't hit enough in 2022 and needed to make roster moves to improve the offense. They didn't, figuring they had enough pieces in place to get better on their own.
And they have.
Sure, it's early, but the Rays have seven guys hitting over .300. Lowe, who struggled as a rookie a year ago, is hitting .429. Shortstop Wander Franco, who only played 83 games a year ago, is healthy now and hitting .417 with a pair of homers and seven RBIs.
Left fielder Randy Arozarena (.364), Diaz (.333), center fielder Jose Siri (.333), infielder Taylor Walls (.313) and Raley (.308) are off to hot starts. Raley had three homers already, which is tied for the American League lead.
The Rays are going the rotation for the second time now, with Eflin, Springs and Rasmussen starting this weekend. They were all good a year ago, and they all want to be better. They've shown that.
McClanahan won Wednesday. He gave up two runs in six innings in the 7-2 win, but didn't really have his best stuff, he said. He walked four batters, which he's only done once in his career previously, but worked around it all and found a way.
"Two years ago, heck probably even last year, I don't get through that,'' McClanahan said. "Yeah, I think experience helps. I was frustrated as hell because I don't like walking guys, but I just fixed things along the way and got through it. I got through six (innings).
"It also helps that we scored a bunch of runs. Those guys are hitting, too, which really makes a difference. You make a mistake, and you know it's going to kill you. They picked me up. Winning is fun, no doubt about it, but it's really early. We just need to keep getting better.''
The Rays play at 6:40 p.m. ET on Friday, at 4:10 p.m. on Saturday and 1:10 on Sunday. The Boston Red Sox come in after that.
It's baseball, so anything can happen. The young A's are 2-4 so far, and have the lowest payroll in baseball at $53 million. (The Rays are No. 28 at $73 million.) The Rays are heavy favorites, but they also remember full well that they started last season 3-0 and then lost three of four at home to Oakland.
But for now, 6-0 looks good on the Rays. They've never won more than three games to start a season. They all count at the end of the day, Cash said, and piling up wins is always a good things.
"There will always be highs and lows in every season, and we're on a high right now,'' said Cash, who's in his ninth year as manager of the Rays. "What we always talk about is being consistent, through the highs and the lows. But yeah, this we'll take.''
