Rays ready to move on, remain confident ahead of daunting stretch

ST. PETERSBURG -- After spending most of the past two Septembers with the finish line clearly marked at the end of the regular season, the Rays have spoken excitedly over the past few days about playing meaningful games this month, with the potential of another month beyond it.

“It's not like we've dreaded September the last couple of years, but it's just one of those things where there's more adrenaline, more excitement to it, right?” starter Drew Rasmussen said recently. “Because you know what's coming, and you know the opportunity we have at hand. But it still comes down to winning every single day.”

In that regard, the Rays’ September stretch run didn’t get off to an ideal start. After pulling off a thrilling sweep of the Padres to begin this homestand, the Rays dropped two out of three against the last-place Mets, a series defeat capped by Wednesday night’s 10-4 loss at Tropicana Field.

Starter Griffin Jax allowed six runs on seven hits and two walks while recording only eight outs in his first start back from the injured list. That put the Rays in a big hole early on, and they couldn’t climb out of it.

“I'm confident we'll respond. We certainly wanted to finish a little stronger, just given the tone that we set [in] some big San Diego games,” manager Kevin Cash said afterward. “But the Mets swung the bat well today and got the timely hits, and we didn't.”

With Jax shaking off the rust from his time on the IL, that tone was set early Wednesday night.

Jax was encouraged by his 63-pitch outing in at least one sense. He felt good physically, with no signs of the right elbow discomfort that led the Rays to scratch him from his scheduled start on Aug. 8 and led to a visit with Dr. Keith Meister. His stuff looked the same.

But Jax wasn’t exactly sharp in the same way he was while posting a 3.16 ERA in 18 starts after a late-April move from the bullpen to the rotation. He admitted he felt “a little rusty, maybe a little out of sync” with the pace of a big league game after working in a pair of simulated games and one Minor League rehab start.

“Really excited to get back out there, get back with these guys. Just trying to help down the stretch,” Jax said. “Rude awakening back to it, but it is what it is, and we start working for the next one.”

The Rays had a chance to limit some of the damage Jax allowed in a 30-pitch first inning. With two on and two outs, Jax allowed a single to Jared Young. Right fielder Victor Mesa Jr. fielded it cleanly and made a strong, on-target throw to catcher Liam Hicks, who couldn’t secure the ball in time to tag Bo Bichette at the plate.

The ball kicked away from Hicks, allowing Carson Benge to score. The Mets further capitalized with an RBI double by Marcus Semien.

“I've just got to make the play. I think I probably took my eye off of it. Tried to make the tag before the ball was secure,” Hicks said. “The outing could have been completely different if I make the play.”

The Rays rallied for four runs, pulling within two, but the Mets scored four more against relievers Cam Booser and Manuel Rodríguez in the seventh and eighth innings to pull away.

As soon as they returned to the Trop’s home clubhouse, the Rays were ready to move forward.

“I hope we just keep playing how we have been playing on the road. I think we've been playing really well,” Hicks said. “I don't think this is a group that's going to let one bad game carry over to the next.”

The road ahead does not offer much relief for the Rays. They flew to Texas immediately after Wednesday night’s finale to prepare for a four-game series starting Thursday at Globe Life Field, which has hardly been a welcoming environment for them in recent years, before concluding the trip in Atlanta with three games against the National League East-leading Braves.

The Rays have lost nine straight in the Rangers’ home ballpark, and they’re about to face a Texas team with plenty at stake this month. The Rangers, Blue Jays and Orioles are all 1 1/2 games behind the Guardians for the final AL Wild Card spot.

The stakes are high. That’s September baseball.

“It's going to be fun playing some meaningful baseball these next couple weeks,” starter Shane McClanahan said. “If you want to get in the playoffs, you’ve got to play playoff teams, so we're looking forward to the challenge. We're looking forward to getting out there and hopefully changing the narrative on that ballpark.”