ST. PETERSBURG -- After finishing their regular-season home schedule with yet another victory at Tropicana Field, the Rays are potentially one win away from clinching their first American League East championship since 2021.
The Rays jumped out to a big lead against the Red Sox in Sunday afternoon’s series finale and rolled to a 5-1 win, their 55th of the season in their rebuilt and restored home dome. That capped an 8-1 homestand with three walk-off victories and three straight series victories against the Astros, A’s and Red Sox, who clinched a spot in the postseason before leaving town anyway thanks to Houston’s loss to Atlanta.
“They're all big, but today was big -- and just incredibly impressed with the way the guys have gone about their business,” manager Kevin Cash said. “We knew this was going to be a big homestand, and they played extremely well.”
What comes next? Clinching the division. The Rays can eliminate the Yankees from the AL East race as soon as Tuesday.
“This month hasn't been easy by any terms. Been playing teams either in the playoffs or fighting for playoff spots. So it's been a dogfight this month,” starter Nick Martinez said. “I think we just did a good job of staying focused on what we do best and keeping our eyes ahead.”
Before flying to New York, they had to finish the home portion of their regular-season schedule on a similarly high note as they moved a season-high 35 games over .500 at 95-60.
The Rays put together a 55-26 record at the Trop this season, the third-highest home winning percentage in franchise history behind 2008 (57-24, .704) and the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign (20-9, .690). Three of their “home” wins in ‘08 came at Disney’s Wide World of Sports, so they actually set a franchise record this season by winning 55 games at the Trop.
Tampa Bay’s players, coaches and staff knew they would appreciate being back in their longtime home ballpark this season after spending last year playing outdoors at George M. Steinbrenner Field after the Trop was damaged by Hurricane Milton. They showed it on the field all season, and they’ll get more opportunities to display their home-field advantage in the postseason.
“I think after last year, we kind of missed this place,” outfielder Jonny DeLuca said.
What has made Tropicana Field such a welcome home for these Rays? Jax pointed out that visitors typically aren’t comfortable underneath the Trop’s tilted roof, unaccustomed to the turf, the catwalks and everything else that makes this place unique.
“I think just the fact that a lot of other teams with 'natural' stadiums didn't want to play here, and us embracing that, everything that the city and the stadium just went through, and just making it our home,” left fielder Chandler Simpson added. “I feel like we're a scrappy, get-our-hands-dirty type of team, and I feel like the stadium fits that.”
Of course, the Rays have proven they can win just about anywhere when they play the kind of game they did in Sunday’s finale.
The Rays’ first three batters loaded the bases against Red Sox lefty Patrick Sandoval, then DeLuca drove in two of them with a double to left. Junior Caminero and DeLuca immediately scored on a single by Simpson, giving Tampa Bay’s pitching staff a sizable lead.
That was the first time since May 18, 2022, that the Rays’ first five batters reached consecutively to begin the game, and Victor Mesa Jr. added to their advantage in the fourth by ripping his 14th homer of the season out to right field.
“It's a bunch of good at-bats that we can string together from one to nine in our lineup, and they just continue to put pressure on pitchers,” Cash said. “Then we've got the right guys to come through in those moments.”
Jax hardly needed that kind of breathing room, as he struck out five over five scoreless innings, giving him a 0.60 ERA in three starts since Sept. 9. He ran into one jam in the fifth, loading the bases with two outs, but struck out Roman Anthony to finish another strong performance.
Next stop: New York. Next celebration: Tuesday?
“We knew what we had to do,” Jax said. “We wanted to put ourselves in a good place going into New York, make it a little bit easier.”