NEW YORK -- Back in Spring Training, the preseason predictions and projection systems were skeptical of the Rays. After consecutive fourth-place finishes, they were widely picked to finish last in the American League East this year.
Those doubts persisted throughout an up-and-down start to the season. They seemed to reappear every time the Rays stumbled through a brief losing streak. Slights surfaced in other ways, too, with pundits repeatedly referring to other clubs as the team to beat in a division led by Tampa Bay.
Now, there can be no doubt. The Rays are once again AL East champions, and the road to the World Series in the AL will run through Tropicana Field.
“I don't think anything was handed to us all year. Obviously, I think a lot of guys expected [the Yankees] to run away with it, and [it] probably to be New York, Boston and Toronto at the top,” veteran starter Nick Martinez said. “No one really expected us to be here, so we've had to fight for it from the beginning of the season.”
Fittingly, the Rays had to fight to make it official on Tuesday night. After a 2-0 loss in Game 1 of a doubleheader at Yankee Stadium, the Rays held on to win Game 2, 6-1, behind a dominant performance by ace Drew Rasmussen, who struck out 11 on a career-high 114 pitches and carried a no-hit bid into the seventh inning.
The victory sealed Tampa Bay’s first AL East championship since winning back-to-back division titles in 2020 and ‘21 and guaranteed the Rays (96-61) the No. 1 seed in the AL postseason field.
In what was expected to be a four-team race, the fifth team finished first.
“Four teams got all the attention in this division, and they're four really good teams, right?” president of baseball operations Erik Neander said. “Just a testament to these guys and just an unbelievable year, and they deserve this. They deserve to enjoy this.”
That they did.
After shortstop Taylor Walls scooped a grounder from George Lombard Jr. and fired it to first baseman Jonathan Aranda for the final out, the team poured onto the field for handshakes, high fives and hugs. Coaches, players and staff changed into AL East “CHAMPS” shirts and hats and gathered in front of the mound for a team photo, then took the celebration inside.
The Rays popped bottles of champagne, poured beer, sprayed silly string, smoked cigars and danced. Manager Kevin Cash started the party with a reminder that they want to do this three more times next month.
“This group has deserved it all year long, and it's a special group,” Yandy Díaz said through interpreter Kevin Vera. “This is just the beginning, and in our minds, the biggest and the most important celebration is the World Series one.”
This is the fifth division title in franchise history, joining 2008, ‘10 and ‘20-21. It’s the fourth time the Rays have claimed the AL’s best record, as they also did so in 2010, ‘20 and ‘21. And they found it fitting to clinch this time while debuting new road jerseys that put their home region front and center.
“Sitting there in the ninth inning, watching that with ‘Tampa Bay’ across our chests, with all that this franchise has been through in this past year, man, it's a great time to be a fan of the Tampa Bay Rays,” Rays CEO Ken Babby said. “So proud of this group.”
For all the questions they've faced, the Rays have spent nearly the entire season as the top team in the AL. Tuesday was their 88th consecutive day in first place, dating back to June 27, and their 128th day overall atop the AL East standings.
“To have the opportunity to run the race from start to finish is special,” Rasmussen said. “We know this isn't the finish line. We know that this is a regular-season accomplishment.
“But man, it feels really good.”
While other contenders have risen, fallen, surged and struggled behind them, the Rays haven’t had a full month with a losing record all season. And they aren’t taking their foot off the gas, having won nine of their last 11 games while putting together an MLB-best 40-19 record since July 20.
That felt like an appropriate date to look back on Tuesday morning, when the Rays reported to Yankee Stadium knowing that just one win in this series would seal the deal. It was, as Walls put it, “a pivotal moment” in Tampa Bay’s season.
Coming out of the All-Star break, the Rays were swept by the Red Sox in a four-game series at Fenway Park from July 17-19. Maybe their nice little run was nearing an end.
But then Martinez scaled the mound and fired six strong innings in Toronto, providing leadership on and off the field, as he’s done all season. The Rays won three straight against the Blue Jays, followed that up with a winning homestand, then reeled off a perfect 9-0 road trip out west.
They haven’t looked back since.
“You can tell a lot about a team with how they respond to something like that,” Walls said. “Just being able to stop the bleeding when it's happening, being able to get back up, get going, focus on what's ahead of you and not focus too much on the past -- I feel like that's kind of been the difference this year.”
Ask around the clubhouse about where that consistency comes from, and you’ll hear different versions of the same answer. It’s chemistry that carried them through the course of the season, the bond that brought them together and the belief that they could do what nobody else expected.
“I'm very happy, very happy, because this is a special group,” Junior Caminero said. “When I got to Spring Training, first day, I [saw] this group, and I [told] them, ‘We've got to play [in] October this year.’
“And we did it.”