My Two Cents: Rays Get Job Done in 17-Game Grind, Well-Positioned For Home Stretch
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BOSTON, Mass. — The grind was real. Seventeen games in 17 days, with no days off at a time in the season where win-or-go-home was starting to become an option.
The last of that 17-game streak came Sunday, when the Tampa Bay Rays thumped the Boston Red Sox 12-4. They flew to Miami after the game, and get a much deserved day off before playing the Marlins on Tuesday and Wednesday.
And they've earned it.
The Rays went 12-5 during that stretch, winning the first four series before dropping two of three in Boston. They scored eight runs in a loss on Friday and 12 more on Sunday. The bats have awoken these past three weeks — they scored seven runs or more in eight games — and the pitching still continues to be very good.
When you break down the season in pieces, this one was easy to do because it's their last long stretch of 17 games or more this season. There were 11 winnable home games — Baltimore, Kansas City and the Los Angeles Angels were the opponents — and the usual tough American League East road trips to New and Boston.
They split the road games 3-3, which is always good enough, and went 9-2 at home. They started this stretch 12 games behind the Yankees in the AL East, and now that lead is down to 7.5 games. They also started this streak teetering on the edge of the playoff picture, but are now in the top spot in the wild-card standings,
They've made a move.
They hold the top spot in the wild-card race now, which is massively important because that means they would host a first-round best-of-three series. They are a half-game ahead of the Seattle Mariners and 1.5 games ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays, who hold down the fifth and sixth spots.
The Rays are three games clear of the Baltimore Orioles, who are the team on the outside looking in at the moment. And Tampa Bay is 4.5 games ahead of the Minnesota Twins and 7.5 games ahead of the Chicago White Sox, two teams that have been slipping.
There's still an enormous amount of work to be done, but what this 12-5 stretch has done is allow the Rays to control their own destiny again, to make people chase them.
In the Rays' locker room, there is very little talk about the wild-card race. They still want to catch the Yankees and win the AL East, a title that's belonged to Tampa Bay in 2020 and 2021.
That race is nowhere near over, because the Rays still have six games with the Bronx Bombers, who are just 8-16 in August and that includes a five-game winning streak earlier this week. The showdowns start on Friday in St. Petersburg with a three-game series this weekend. They also play in New York the following weekend, Sept. 9-11.
It's going to be interesting to see where the Rays stand when we wake up on Monday in two weeks.
September's schedule is very hard, but the Rays seem up for the challenge. They are getting healthier, with the return on Harold Ramirez and Manuel Margot already paying massive dividends. The bullpen is also getting stronger, which is great. The big wild card is the return of shortstop Wander Franco, probably at some time this week. A healthy Franco throughout September is a big deal, too.
There are still six games to go against the Houston Astros, the best team in the American League, and three more against the Cleveland Guardians, who are leading the AL Central. That's tough, and it's also tough still banging with those AL East rivals, with six against the Yankees, nine against the Blue Jays and six against Boston, including the last three games of the season at Fenway Park from Oct. 3-5.
The Rays are 70-57 heading into the much-needed off day. Only the Astros and Yankees have more wins in the AL.
So this we know. There's five weeks to go in the season, and it's going to be a heck of a lot of fun.
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- RAYS SCHEDULE: Here is the complete 2022 Tampa Bay Rays schedule, with results and stats of all. games so far, and dates, times and locations for the remaining five weeks of the season. CLICK HERE
