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The Tampa Bay Rays have four games left in the regular season. They currently sit 2.5 games behind the division-leading Baltimore Orioles, with a chance to still clinch the American League East.
The Rays squared off with the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday to start a two-game series. They made a statement in the 1st inning, scoring three runs, with an RBI double from Junior Caminero.
RBI singles from Josh Lowe and Manual Margot added to Tampa’s strong start.
After those three runs in the 1st, the Rays now total 110 runs in the first inning this season, the most in the American League and third in all of baseball.
The runs just kept pouring on for the Rays as René Pinto hit a two-run homerun to make it 7-0 in the 3rd inning.
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The Red Sox responded in the 5th with a three-run home run from Enmanuel Valdez. Boston continued their momentum, scoring two runs in the 6th and another in the 7th. The Rays now only led by one run, 7-6.
Tampa responded in the 8th, scoring on an RBI groundout and an RBI single, bringing the score to 9-7.
Enmanuel Valdez answered again for Boston in the bottom of the 8th with an RBI double, but it was too late for the Red Sox, as Tampa secured the 9-7 victory.
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The Current Picture
If the regular season ended today, the Rays’ record of 96-62 would secure them the first AL Wild Card spot, the fourth seed overall in the American League. They would play the Blue Jays in the three-game Wild Card Series round, with the winner moving on to play the Orioles best-of-five Division Series.
With the current standings, half of the American League Playoff spots would belong to the AL East: Rays, Orioles, and Blue Jays.
Looking Ahead
With the postseason’s looming start on October 3rd, the Rays look to finish the regular season strong. They square off against the Red Sox again Wednesday at 6:10 p.m. to conclude that two-game series.
Then, to finish the regular season, the Rays have a three-game series with AL East opponent, the Toronto Blue Jays. That series starts Friday.
