ST. PETERSBURG -- Spend enough time around the Rays, and you’ll hear a familiar refrain about how this year’s team can win games in many different ways.
They say it for a reason. It’s true. Including the postseason, Tampa Bay has won 101 games this year, and it has displayed a variety of skills while doing so.
The Rays pitch well. They play strong defense, especially at key spots in the middle infield and all over the outfield. Their lineup isn’t overly reliant on one set of skills.
But if you had to pick one specific way for the Rays to win in the American League Championship Series, which begins Monday night at Tropicana Field, it’s this: Score at least four runs. Tampa Bay put together an AL-best 75-17 (.815) record during the regular season when putting up more than three runs, and it’s a proven formula for success in the postseason, too.
Teams to score at least four runs in the playoffs are 18-1 so far this year and 51-10 (.836) over the last two postseasons.
Granted, the Rays won Game 1 of the AL Division Series by scoring just one run; Drew Rasmussen can provide you with that sometimes. But they scored five runs in a 5-2 win in Game 2 and finished the sweep of the Yankees with a, wouldn’t you know it, 4-3 victory in Game 3.
Even across those three games, the Rays showed how dynamic their lineup can be. Want to see small ball? They can score without hitting the ball out of the infield. Timely hits? They’ll find them. Dig the long ball? They hit more home runs than the Yankees in the ALDS.
“I think that's who we are,” manager Kevin Cash said. “There are some nights that we're going to need to go out and slug with the opponent, but there are some nights that we're going to do everything we can to just scratch and claw to get a run across the board.”
Stop us if you’ve heard this before: The Rays score runs in many different ways.
Small ball
The Rays received a lot of attention for this during the ALDS, as if they scored the fourth-most runs in the AL this season on nothing but stolen bases and safety squeezes. But make no mistake: It is indeed a big part of their game.
The Rays' lineup put the ball in play like nobody else, leading with a MLB-best 18.8% strikeout rate and a 79.3% contact rate. They led the AL in stolen bases (164) for the third straight year. They led the Majors in sacrifice hits (45), bunt hits (49) and singles (984), and they ranked first in the AL with 143 infield hits.
Those skills became less desirable in the era of exit velocity and launch angle, but the Rays have leaned into the skill set of their personnel -- including contact-hitting speedsters like Chandler Simpson and capable bunters like Taylor Walls and Cedric Mullins -- and made it work for them.
Timely hitting
The Rays led the AL in batting average (.258) and on-base percentage (.326), so they often put themselves in position to score.
And they capitalized on those opportunities by leading the Majors with a .284 average with runners in scoring position, another testament to their contact-oriented approach and selfless mindset.
“Moving the ball forward is a little easier when your swings are smaller, and that's kind of in our DNA,” hitting coach Chad Mottola said. “More of the team baseball has led to more contact, so [that’s] more situational hitting or just a willingness to pass the baton and not try to do everything yourself.”
The long ball
Ask Max Fried if the Rays can hit home runs. Ask Gerrit Cole if Junior Caminero is the only power threat in Tampa Bay’s lineup.
The Rays are 50-2 this year when they outhomer their opponent, the best mark by any team in the modern era.
This is not the Rays’ greatest strength; they ranked 22nd in MLB with 169 homers this season. But any lineup led by Caminero (42), Jonathan Aranda (22) and Yandy Díaz (22) could clear the fence, and the rest of the group followed suit as the season went on.
Consider: The Rays slugged the Majors’ fewest home runs (58) in 71 games through June 18, then they were tied for seventh most with 111 in 91 games the rest of the way.
The promotion of Victor Mesa Jr. played a part. So did the acquisition of Liam Hicks. But Mullins went deep 15 times, and they got 11 from both Jonny DeLuca and Ryan Vilade. Richie Palacios came into more power over the final two months of the season, too, than he showed in the first four.
The bottom half of the lineup wasn’t just slapping the ball around the field anymore. They were finding different ways to win.
“When you play selfishly and you try to create things that are not there, you're not going to be in a good spot,” Palacios said. “But when you play unselfishly, it's amazing how you get a lot of opportunities to help the team win.”