ST. PETERSBURG -- Thirteen days ago, the Rays were in fourth place in the American League East and a half-game behind the Orioles for the final AL Wild Card spot. After completing a four-game sweep of the Angels with an 8-3 victory on Thursday afternoon at Tropicana Field, they’ve jumped to second in the division and are standing alone atop the Wild Card standings.

• American League standings

Thursday's win was the Rays’ sixth straight and their 11th in the last 13 games, with both losses coming by one run in extra innings. They’ve outscored their opponents by 40 runs (68-28) during that stretch.

The Rays know they’ll be in the thick of a playoff race the rest of the season, and they’ve picked a good time to get on a roll.

“We're starting to play our best baseball of the year,” said starter Drew Rasmussen, who tied a career high with nine strikeouts in Thursday's series finale. “We've been kind of derailed by some injuries throughout the year, but as we get healthier and healthier, the better it seems we play.”

Here are three reasons the Rays have taken off over the past two weeks.

1. The rotation is getting it done

The Rays have allowed three runs or fewer 12 times over the past 13 days, including each of the past eight games. And it all starts with the starters, as the rotation has a 1.60 ERA during this stretch.

“If we pitch,” manager Kevin Cash said, “we're going to win a lot.”

Rasmussen has backed that up. After an eight-inning perfect-game bid two starts ago and an extended no-hit effort last time out, the right-hander limited the Angels to just a Taylor Ward homer over 5 1/3 innings on Thursday.

And if it seems as though Tampa Bay's five starters -- Rasmussen, Shane McClanahan, Corey Kluber, Jeffrey Springs and Ryan Yarbrough -- are feeding off one another right now, well, they are.

“A lot of guys have been throwing really well lately, so it makes it a good competition between the rotation,” Yarbrough said. “Obviously, some guys are making it pretty hard on others to continue to do that, which is always good.”

2. The lineup has found balance

When they lost a handful of key hitters to injuries in the first half, the Rays also lost their offensive identity, having a tough time stringing together rallies without contact-oriented hitters Wander Franco, Harold Ramirez and Manuel Margot.

They’re hoping to have Franco back eventually, and it seems every game lately has brought a reminder of the importance of Ramírez and Margot.

Margot finished a home run shy of the cycle after a four-hit performance on Thursday. Ramírez, who doubled and drove in three runs, has hit safely in each of his nine games while batting .333 since coming back from the 10-day IL.

“They're big parts of our club,” Cash said. “We know we're a better team with them in the lineup.”

All of a sudden, innings that might have been cut short by strikeouts are being extended by balls in play. The Rays have had at least a five-run inning three times in their last eight games -- including a five-run third on Thursday -- compared with only six times in their first 116 games.

They’ve also rediscovered some power, showing they can score runs in a variety of ways. Randy Arozarena has five homers in his last 15 games, Christian Bethancourt homered in three straight before a hitless finale and Isaac Paredes has gone deep in two of his last three games following a drought of 71 at-bats.

“Tremendous,” Margot said through interpreter Manny Navarro. “We know how good this team can be.”

3. They took advantage of an easy schedule

The Rays won seven of eight games this homestand against the Royals and Angels, fourth-place teams that are a combined 45 games below .500. It was part of their schedule they did well to take advantage of, though, because there’s a brutal slog ahead after the calendar flips to September.

The Rays will face teams with a losing record in only nine of their final 33 games. The home stretch includes nine games against the Blue Jays, six against the Yankees, six against the Astros and three against the Guardians.

“We know it's going to go down to the wire. There's a lot of good teams right in the thick of things,” Cash said. “But if we can kind of just focus on the game, the series, at hand, we'll be better for it.”