ST. PETERSBURG -- Guiding Griffin Jax from the bullpen back to the rotation, battling a number of injuries and playing without cleanup hitter Yandy Díaz, the red-hot Rays kept rolling with a 5-1 win over the Giants on Saturday night at Tropicana Field.
The Rays have won 15 of their last 20 games to improve to 20-12 on the year, the second-best mark in the American League behind only the Yankees (22-11). Since April 10, the Braves (15-5 entering Saturday night) are the only team that has matched Tampa Bay’s record.
How have they done it? As usual, it starts on the mound.
The Rays have allowed three runs or fewer in each of their last nine games, tying the third-longest streak (May 22-30, 2019) in franchise history. Their starting pitching has been stellar during that stretch, with five scoreless outings -- including Jax’s 2 2/3-inning appearance as an opener on Saturday.
The bullpen has also been steady, and they handled the bulk of the innings after Jax gave up just one hit and a walk while striking out two. Jesse Scholtens pitched three innings, Kevin Kelly recorded four outs, Garrett Cleavinger pitched a scoreless eighth in his return from the injured list, and recent pickup Casey Legumina handled the ninth with a four-run lead.
But run prevention is more than just pitching, of course. Manager Kevin Cash called Friday’s 3-0 victory arguably their best defensive day of the season, and they were pretty sharp in the field on Saturday, too.
Right fielder Jonny DeLuca made a diving grab behind Jax in the third inning, catcher Hunter Feduccia and second baseman Richie Palacios teamed up to catch Casey Schmitt stealing second in the fourth inning, and center fielder Cedric Mullins made a sliding snag in the sixth.
Meanwhile, the Rays continue to get the most out of a multi-dimensional lineup. On Friday, Junior Caminero and Díaz backed starter Shane McClanahan with a pair of impressive homers. But they weren’t likely to barrel the ball around the park against Giants starter Landen Roupp on Saturday, so they took a different approach.
Caminero helped them get on the board in the fourth inning by legging out an infield single, hustling to third on a single by Jonathan Aranda then scoring when Jake Fraley dropped a single just in front of center fielder Jung Hoo Lee.
Their big inning came in the fifth. Feduccia hit a leadoff double, then the Rays loaded the bases with a walk by Taylor Walls and a bunt single by Chandler Simpson. Mullins worked a bases-loaded walk, then Aranda drove in two more runs on a single to center.
Aranda is now tied with Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez for the AL lead with 27 RBIs.