This story was excerpted from Adam Berry’s Rays Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

ST. PETERSBURG -- All of a sudden here the Rays are, right back in the race for the American League East.

After winning 18 of 27 games in August -- and seeing the Yankees lose 18 of their 28 games last month, the Rays entered Friday night’s series opener at Tropicana Field only six games out of first place in the division. Seems hard to believe considering the Rays trailed the Yankees by a whopping 15 1/2 games when they left Cincinnati on July 10, doesn’t it?

But that’s the situation for the Rays, with a demanding schedule ahead of them but a real chance (albeit long odds, still) to earn their third straight AL East title. And here’s the perfect opportunity before them: six games in 10 days against the team they’re chasing.

Before moving ahead, let’s look back at the Rays’ top players during their excellent August. If you want a refresher on our past monthly award winners, check them out for April, May, June and July.

Player of the Month
Finally, August was the sort of star-level month we’d been waiting for from Randy Arozarena.

For the most part, the reigning AL Rookie of the Year’s production this season had come in fits and starts. But this month brought many more frequent reminders that he has game-changing talent when he’s at his best.

Arozarena finished August with a .327/.421/.602 slash line, six homers, nine doubles, 23 RBIs and seven stolen bases. He had some really big hits, including a tiebreaking homer in a win over the Angels on Aug. 22 and the only hit the Rays needed in a 3-1 win at Yankee Stadium on Aug. 16.

With Arozarena back in top form and contact-oriented hitters like Manuel Margot, Harold Ramírez and Francisco Mejía back in the mix, it was the best month for Tampa Bay’s lineup -- and the team’s best month overall. Maybe Arozarena’s just heating up for another memorable October.

Pitcher of the Month
If you didn’t look back at the past award winners linked above, here’s a brief rundown of this not-entirely-real award’s four-month history: Shane McClanahan, Shane McClanahan, Shane McClanahan and, wait for it, Shane McClanahan.

McClanahan pitched well in August, too, although the month ended with him on the injured list and unlikely to return until mid-September. Corey Kluber had his 4.85 ERA run up by seven homers, but take a moment to appreciate his 24-to-2 strikeout-to-walk totals. And Jeffrey Springs was quietly outstanding -- one bad first inning at Fenway Park aside -- with a 2.93 ERA and 33 strikeouts.

This one, though, goes to Drew Rasmussen. The right-hander had his most dominant stretch as a starter, posting a 1.57 ERA with 33 strikeouts and only four walks in 34 1/3 innings over six starts. He upped his fastball usage in August but really made more effective use of his new cutter and slider and revamped curveball, helping him get more swinging strikes to produce outstanding results.

He nearly made history, then took a no-hit bid into the sixth -- then didn’t let up, allowing only two runs with 13 strikeouts in 11 1/3 innings over his final two outings of the month. The Rays won five of his last six starts, bringing them to 17-6 with Rasmussen on the mound this season.

Reliever of the Month
What Jason Adam has done this season is a remarkable story, and it’s hard to say where the Rays would be right now without him stepping up to assume a huge role in their bullpen. He hasn’t slowed down, either, as his 0.71 ERA and 0.63 WHIP in August demonstrate.

Brooks Raley has seemingly only gotten better as the year’s gone on, too, logging a 0.73 ERA and 12-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio last month. JT Chargois has come back strong and Colin Poche has done well while taking on a pretty big workload (only Adam has made more appearances for the Rays) in his return from Tommy John surgery.

But man, does Pete Fairbanks look like a potential X-factor out of the bullpen right now. His stuff has been electric in his return from the IL, and he’s just pounding the strike zone with everything in his arsenal. We’ll give him the nod here over Adam, if only because of how easy Fairbanks is making it look and how important that could be moving forward.

Fairbanks struck out 17 with only one walk and three hits allowed in 10 2/3 innings over 11 outings in August, giving manager Kevin Cash a huge weapon late in games to pair with Adam, Raley, Poche, Chargois, and perhaps soon, a rehabbing J.P. Feyereisen.