ST. PETERSBURG -- Whether it’s lingering jetlag from their perfect West Coast trip, running into a couple of American League East rivals desperately trying to play their way back into the postseason race or simply one of those stretches every team goes through, nothing is coming easily for the Rays right now.
Their 7-6 victory against the Blue Jays on Wednesday night at Tropicana Field was no exception. They benefited from some fortunate bounces, bunted their way to two runs and watched a comfortable lead turn into their 18th one-run win of the season.
As manager Kevin Cash put it afterward, every win lately has been “quite the grind.”
But after dropping four of their first five games on this homestand, it certainly beat the alternative.
“Every one counts, right?” starter Drew Rasmussen said. “I'm sure we're getting close to people starting to look at standings … but if we win, it doesn't matter. We put ourselves in that position.
“When we take care of business on our end, it's a good day -- and that's all that matters.”
Here are three takeaways from the AL-leading Rays’ 76th win of the season.
1. They took what they were given, then took more
Even good teams need good luck sometimes, right?
The Rays got some in the fourth inning, courtesy of Toronto left fielder Jesús Sánchez. They did their part by rallying to load the bases with one out, then Richie Palacios hit a fly ball to shallow left field. Sánchez completely misread it and let the ball drop in front of him, allowing two runs to score.
But good teams also make their own luck, right?
The Rays did that in the fourth inning. With Cedric Mullins on third and Palacios at second, Taylor Walls dropped a sacrifice bunt. Kazuma Okamoto fielded it and flipped it to the plate, but Mullins slid home safely. Chandler Simpson immediately dropped another bunt and raced to first, beating the throw and driving in Palacios.
“Guys with speed on base there, just trying to get the ball down, play a little small ball and get the runners in,” Simpson said.
The back-to-back bunts, which Cash described as “pretty perfect,” set up Walls to score on a groundout by Junior Caminero, capping a five-run frame that proved to be the difference in the game.
“It’s just the inning that kind of encapsulates what we've been for the entire season,” DH Yandy Díaz, who set the tone with a two-run homer in the first, said through interpreter Kevin Vera. “It's the singles. It's the small ball. It's the big base hits. It's just who we are since the start of Opening Day.”
2. The rotation has had a rough turn
Ian Seymour, who will start Thursday afternoon’s finale, had the best outing of the homestand so far on Saturday, a quality start in which he allowed three runs over six innings.
Freddy Peralta’s mostly-encouraging start Sunday ended on a sour note after 4 2/3 innings. Shane McClanahan also looked close to normal in his return from the injured list Monday, but he wound up being charged for three runs in 3 1/3 innings.
Even the unwavering Nick Martinez and Rasmussen struggled against the Jays. Martinez was hit early and often Tuesday, allowing six runs in his shortest start of the season, whereas Rasmussen’s trouble came later.
After retiring nine of the first 10 batters he faced, Rasmussen surrendered a homer to Alejandro Kirk in the fourth then allowed four runs on five hits, a walk and a sacrifice fly during a seven-batter span in the fifth.
That turned a sizable lead into a narrow edge, although Rasmussen still became the first Rays pitcher to win six consecutive starts since Blake Snell won a club-record nine straight in 2018.
“What a win. I tried my hardest to make sure it didn't happen,” Rasmussen deadpanned. “What our team has done, the resilience we've shown … it's a special group.”
3. The back end of the bullpen got the job done
The Blue Jays’ scrappy comeback left the Rays’ bullpen with no margin for error. Fortunately, their top arms were up to the task.
Cam Booser allowed a leadoff single in the sixth, and Kevin Kelly let that run score on a two-out double. Otherwise, they executed another successful high-wire act to protect a one-run lead.
Kelly picked up four outs, bridging the gap from the sixth through the seventh. Trade Deadline acquisition Tyler Wells handled the eighth, and All-Star closer Bryan Baker -- fresh off his first career five-out save on Monday night -- retired Kirk with the tying run on in the ninth to record his MLB-leading 36th save.
“Obviously you want to win every game,” Baker said, “but especially ones like that where it's kind of hectic, a lot of stuff going on.”