ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays took a moment to celebrate their future on Friday, as their organizational dream to secure a “Forever Home” ballpark in Tampa became that much closer to reality following votes by the Tampa City Council and Hillsborough County Commission.
But in case you missed it, things are going pretty well in the present, too.
The Rays returned to Tropicana Field on Friday night and began their penultimate homestand of the regular season with a 9-4 win over the Padres, maintaining the momentum they regained by winning three of their last four games on the road.
The victory improved Tampa Bay’s record to 80-54, making the club the first team in the American League with 80 wins, and ensured the Rays would maintain at least a four-game lead over the Yankees in the AL East with 28 games remaining.
The road to October will not be easy for the Rays. They entered this series with the hardest remaining schedule in the AL, based on their opponents’ .513 winning percentage. They will play nine series over the next month, and six are against teams who began the day in position to make the postseason.
“It's a nice time to get going, right?” veteran starter Nick Martinez said. “We've earned the spot to play some meaningful games this time of year, and to play against teams that are either already a lock to make the playoffs or fighting to make the playoffs should make for a fun month.”
That began Friday night with what felt like a statement showing how much the Rays are welcoming that challenge.
Starter Shane McClanahan cruised through four scoreless innings before giving up a pair of runs in the fifth and sixth, and the Rays’ dynamic lineup put up runs in five straight innings in their highest-scoring home game since an 11-3 win over the Guardians on July 24.
Yandy Díaz got things started in the third inning, ripping an opposite-field homer off Padres right-hander Casey Mize. It was Díaz’s 20th home run of the season and his 119th with Tampa Bay, breaking a tie with B.J. Upton for fifth-most in franchise history. The solo shot also pushed Díaz past Carlos Peña and into fourth place on the club’s all-time RBI leaderboard.
But the Rays really broke through in the fourth inning, albeit in a very Rays way. They sent nine men to the plate and scored five runs on two hits, with the first two scoring before a ball left the infield.
Mize hit Junior Caminero with a pitch to begin the inning, then got Liam Hicks to pop out to catcher Freddy Fermin. Chandler Simpson slapped a comebacker to Mize, who yanked a throw to second base into left-center field, allowing Caminero to reach third base. Simpson stole second, then Jonny DeLuca walked to load the bases.
Cedric Mullins tapped a ball to first baseman Ty France, who didn’t have a chance to cut down Caminero at the plate and was too late to get Mullins out at first. Mize’s 1-2 pitch to Jorge Mateo bounced off Fermin and straight up in the air, giving Simpson time to dash home.
Mateo at last delivered the Rays’ first ball hit to the outfield, a sacrifice fly that brought home DeLuca. Taylor Walls kept the inning alive with an RBI single down the third-base line, stole second and scored on a base hit by Díaz.
The Rays didn’t let up after that, scoring a run in each of the next three innings. DeLuca and Caminero picked up RBI singles, and Mullins launched his 14th home run just over the outstretched glove of Fernando Tatis Jr. -- and into the glove of a young fan wearing a Tatis jersey.