ST. PETERSBURG -- Exactly one month into the regular season, the Rays are on a roll.
Tampa Bay finished a three-game sweep of Minnesota with a 4-2 victory on Sunday afternoon at Tropicana Field, already the club’s third sweep of the season. The Rays’ fourth straight win improved their record to 16-11, the second-best mark in the American League.
All the Rays’ offensive production in the series finale came in the third inning courtesy of two big swings from two of their most important hitters. With runners on second and third and one out, Jonathan Aranda ripped a two-strike fastball from Simeon Woods Richardson to right-center field for a two-run single.
Up came Yandy Díaz, who took four straight pitches before swatting a high fastball out to right field for a two-run homer. It was Díaz’s 28th opposite-field homer since 2023, according to Statcast, second-most in the Majors behind Aaron Judge (42) during that stretch.
That was enough for the Rays’ pitching staff, which deployed an opener for just the second time this season. Right-hander Griffin Jax got the nod and handled the assignment well, allowing just one hit and a walk while striking out two over 2 1/3 scoreless innings.
Bulk-innings reliever Jesse Scholtens kept the Rays’ lead intact as he surrendered two runs -- both on a seventh-inning homer by Brooks Lee -- in 4 1/3 innings. Right-hander Cole Sulser took over from there and got through the eighth inning, then right-hander Bryan Baker nailed down his sixth save in the ninth.