Rays close stellar regular season, await Red Sox-Yanks winner in ALDS

PHILADELPHIA -- The 162-game marathon is over. Next comes the sprint through October.

But first, the Rays have earned the right to rest.

While the Phillies celebrated their survival after claiming the third National League Wild Card spot with a 7-3 win over the Rays on a rain-soaked Sunday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park, Tampa Bay officially closed out one of the best regular seasons in franchise history.

The Rays finished with 98 wins, their third most in a single season behind 2021 (100) and ‘23 (99). They won 30 series and swept 16. They led the American League East for 133 days, including 93 straight since June 27, and owned the AL’s best record for a club-record 132 days. And they finished strong, posting the AL’s best record since July 20 at 42-22.

They did the hard part, handling all the challenges presented by the six-month season and rising to the top of baseball’s most competitive division to earn the league’s top seed and a bye through the AL Wild Card Series. But even special seasons like this are ultimately defined by, and remembered for, what takes place in October.

“The season’s not over yet, right? We have our most important games ahead of us,” starter and team leader Nick Martinez said. “Our goal is not just to make it to the playoffs. I think every player's goal is to win a World Series, and that's certainly our goal.”

The Rays’ postseason will begin with Game 1 of the AL Division Series next Saturday at Tropicana Field, where they will host the winner of the best-of-three Wild Card Series between the Yankees and Red Sox.

What the Rays have done to this point put them in position to possess home-field advantage throughout the ALDS and Championship Series, no small matter given their 55-26 home record this season. What takes place over the next week could determine whether they win seven more games to capture the club’s third AL pennant -- or 11 more to achieve their ultimate goal.

For starters, how will they handle their time down in the coming days? Teams who receive a first-round bye often debate “rest vs. rust,” the merits of getting a hard-earned break against the risk of going cold during their longest stretch of days off since Spring Training.

Martinez encouraged his teammates heading into their final series to maintain their focus against the Phillies instead of “waiting for the playoffs to turn it on.”

“I feel like it's almost another season coming up, and [we’re] just getting ready for that and mentally preparing for those games,” said outfielder Jonny DeLuca, who homered twice in his first career multihomer game.

The Rays will work to combat the downtime by holding a pair of intrasquad scrimmages on Tuesday and Thursday at the Trop, getting their regulars work and testing the health of rehabbing players like relievers Tyler Wells and Garrett Cleavinger.

Martinez, who gave up four runs on seven hits over 2 2/3 innings in the final outing of his incredibly valuable season, said it falls upon the players to make sure they stay ready.

“You do what you can to stay locked in, right?” Martinez said. “We’ll have some sort of intrasquads and workouts to stay both sharp physically and mentally. Just got to take it upon ourselves to stay sharp on the mental side.”

Meanwhile, Rays officials must decide how to assemble a roster that they feel gives them the best chance to win a best-of-five series against one of their division rivals.

Manager Kevin Cash made this much clear before Sunday afternoon’s regular-season finale: “None of that has been decided.” They are still deliberating how many position players and pitchers they want to carry, how to set up their rotation and who belongs in their bullpen.

For all the internal considerations on those fronts, including their evaluations and the health of certain players, the Rays can’t make any definitive decisions until they learn who they’ll be facing. That won’t happen until Wednesday, if there’s a sweep, or late Thursday night.

The composition of the Rays’ rotation behind presumptive Game 1 starter Drew Rasmussen is arguably their most interesting decision, going hand-in-hand with what they do with the starters who aren’t on the short series’ starting staff. Sunday’s game may have provided at least one hint.

When Martinez exited with two outs in the third inning, he was relieved by left-hander Ian Seymour, who retired Justin Crawford on two pitches before giving way to Jesse Scholtens. Seymour has been working effectively as a starter/bulk-inning reliever for months and just pitched five scoreless innings at Yankee Stadium on Thursday night, but he began the season as a reliever and could get some work in that role next month.

“That’s kind of the thought behind it. He was so efficient against the Yankees, and then [it] made sense,” Cash said of Seymour. “I know he's done it before, but get him back familiar with it.”