My Two Cents: 3 Things I Liked From Rays in Series Win over Tigers

The Tampa Bay Rays have been playing well and are now eight games over .500, tying its high mark of the season after a series win over the Detroit Tigers. Here are three things I liked about the Rays this week.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Tampa Bay won another series on Wednesday, dispatching the Detroit Tigers 6-1 to take the last two games in the three-game set. That's seven series wins in the last nine now, and the Rays are eight games over .500 at 23-15.

They have the third-best record in the American League right now, behind only the New York Yankees and Houston Astros. They've been playing some good baseball. Here's what I liked most about what's gone on this week:

1. (Don't) Walk This Way

In the top of the seventh inning on Tuesday, Tampa Bay reliever Matt Wisler walked Tigers second baseman Jonathan Schoop on seven pitches to open the inning. It was the one and only walk by a Rays pitcher in the series, and they went 26 2/3 innings without a walk, going back to Sunday's win over Toronto.

That's huge.

As good as the Rays pitch and play defense, their ability to keep guys off the base paths with free passes is a big deal. It keeps them away from big innings and makes them far more efficient. It's no coincidence that during this streak, the Rays have given up only five runs in four games.

All five of those runs came on homers, three of them solo shots.

"You never want to give up a home run, but you can live with one run a lot easier than two or three with one swing,'' Rays starter Drew Rasmussen said a few weeks ago. "The big thing for me is the walks, and not giving away free base runners. Walks drive me crazy.''

Rasmussen didn't walk anyone in his five innings of work Wednesday, and even Wisler's one walk was erased by a double play to the next batter, Harold Castro. 

2. Call The Ball, Maverick

With leading hitter Manuel Margot (.348 batting average) and top home run hitter Brandon Lowe (five homers) both out with injuries, others have needed to step up. Outfielder Brett Phillips did his part in this series.

Phillips hit safely in all three games, going 5-for-9 with a double and two home runs. It's a big deal that the Rays hit six home runs in the 40 hours after Lowe went on the injured list.

I wrote extensively about Phillips making changes to his swing — just CLICK HERE to read my Tuesday column — but it's critical that Phillips provides more to this team than just his speed and defense. He needs to hit, too, and hopefully this series is a breakthrough moment. His batting average went from .145 to .197 in three days, and that in itself looks much better. 

3. Winning With Defense

Counting the series clincher over Toronto, the Rays have made just one error in four games, and that makes a difference too, because they aren't giving opponents extra outs. 

The only error came Tuesday night by rookie second baseman Vidal Brujan, and it played no factor in the game — and 8-1 win by the Rays — because they turned a double play two pitches later to end the seventh inning. Wander Franco made several nice plays, and one player who often gets overlooked for his defensive abilities is Yandy Diaz. He made several big plays, at both first and third.

One huge plus lately, too, has been the play of Randy Arozarena in left field. Kevin Kiermaier and Brett Phillips get talked about a lot for their defense — and rightly so — but Arozarena has had several diving catches in this homestand, and he's used his speed to snare balls down the line and in the gaps.

Taking away scoring opportunities is huge, and the Rays have been doing a lot of that lately.