WEST SACRAMENTO -- The Rays know there are plenty of ways to win baseball games. During an incredible road trip that culminated in an 8-4 win over the A’s on Wednesday at Sutter Health Park, they got to experience just about all of them.
Tampa Bay swept through the Rockies in Colorado, the Mariners in Seattle and the A’s in West Sacramento for a perfect 9-0 road trip -- the first unbeaten trip of three or more series in franchise history.
It's just the 13th road trip of 9-0 or better by any team in the Modern Era (since 1900), per Stats Perform. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Red Sox are the only other team to have won all nine-plus games of a road trip in Mountain or Pacific time zones. (Boston went a combined 9-0 against the Angels, Mariners and Athletics from July 29-Aug. 7, 1977.)
“We did everything really well,” manager Kevin Cash said. “We hit well. We pitched well. We defended well. We ran the bases well. As a result, we found a way to get nine wins. Very impressive by that group.”
The Rays finished their West Coast swing by dominating the struggling A’s, averaging 10 runs per game in a three-game series that saw a different method of victory in each contest.
Eighth-inning comeback on Monday? Check. Six home runs on Tuesday? Might as well. Two-out magic on Wednesday? You bet.
Tampa Bay jumped out to an early advantage in the series finale, taking a 3-0 lead by the third inning and responding with a four-run fourth after the A’s got two runs back in the bottom of the third. All four runs came with two outs, as Junior Caminero blooped an RBI single into left and catcher Liam Hicks delivered a three-run home run to break things open.
Hicks went 3-for-5 and came a triple shy of the cycle in the victory, continuing to produce since he was acquired from the Marlins ahead of the Trade Deadline. His dinger was his second in just eight games with the Rays, following a crucial grand slam in a comeback win over the Rockies on Aug. 4.
“He’s got a knack for putting the ball in play and finding the barrel, and he’s come up with two of the biggest hits on this trip, for sure,” Cash said.
Practically everyone in the Rays’ lineup seemed to come up big at the right time during the club’s travels. Shortstop Taylor Walls had the go-ahead hit on Monday and his first two home runs of the season on Tuesday, and outfielder Chandler Simpson hit .429 (15-for-35) in the first eight games of the trip before taking a seat on Wednesday.
Even without Simpson’s .307 overall batting average in the lineup, the Rays rapped 15 hits in their series finale against the A’s, with five players -- Hicks, Caminero, designated hitter Yandy Díaz and outfielders Cedric Mullins and Jonny DeLuca -- recording multi-hit games.
“On offense, it’s just a pesky team,” Hicks said. “They can steal bases, put the ball in play, and then we’ve got guys who are going to hit homers as well and drive them in.”
The Rays are well aware that offensive diversity bodes well for the future, with Cash pointing out that the club’s high-contact approach can be effective against high-strikeout pitchers Tampa Bay will see down the line.
Their success in the clutch is promising, too: After going 36-for-112 (.321) with a 1.025 OPS with two outs on the nine-game trip, the Rays lead MLB in both categories with two outs this season at .268 and .762, respectively.
“Two-out RBIs are a killer,” Hicks said. “The pitcher feels like he’s about to get out of the inning, and then you’re able to put something in play and then pass the baton to the next guy.”
Starter Drew Rasmussen, who picked up his 12th win of the season with five innings of two-run ball, has seen what his offense is capable of. The righty is happy to have a front-row seat.
“There are so many different ways that we can find to score runs,” Rasmussen said. “Our ability to score, it’s never reliant on one facet of the game. We have a bunch of different options, and continuously, we get to see our skill sets on display.”
The Rays hold an American League-best 74-46 record and a 6 1/2-game lead over the Yankees in the AL East, and they’ll return to Tropicana Field on Friday to start a four-game set against the Orioles after a road trip that, according to Hicks, “couldn’t have gone any better.”
“It felt really good,” Hicks said. “Really excited to bring that momentum back home.”