TAMPA — Just a week after they seemed to be doomed to another mediocre season, everything is going the Rays’ way.
Their lineup? Red hot. Their pitching? Outstanding.
Their postseason hopes? All of a sudden, very much alive.
The Rays pounded Mariners starter George Kirby with eight runs on 10 hits in the first two innings of Wednesday night’s series finale and didn’t look back, as Yandy Díaz’s first career five-hit performance led a season-high 19-hit attack in a 9-4 win at George M. Steinbrenner Field.
That victory completed a three-game sweep and extended Tampa Bay’s winning streak to six games, tied for the club’s longest of the season. And it brought the Rays within 2 1/2 games of the Mariners, who are losing their grip on the final American League Wild Card spot as they’ve dropped 14 of their last 20 games.
Right fielder Josh Lowe said the Rays are doing their best to avoid looking at the big picture, and it’s a fair approach given the roller coaster they’ve ridden to this point of the season.
“It’s kind of something I’ve been talking about here recently is try not to focus on that too much, right? We can only control what we go out there and do,” Lowe said. “I feel like the more we sit there and talk about the playoffs and whatnot, the more we start to see things [go] in the wrong direction. So I think we’re doing a really good job of just playing one game at a time and not worrying about outside stuff going on.”
That mindset has served them well lately, as they’re right back in the thick of things following their first back-to-back sweeps since their 13-0 start to the 2023 season.
“We’re just taking it day by day. We’re not thinking about playoffs,” Díaz said through interpreter Eddie Rodriguez. “Hopefully we’ll continue to get more wins, and God willing, we’ll be able to get to our goal.”
A week ago, the Rays — fresh off a series loss in Cleveland — were 64-69 and 7 1/2 games behind the Mariners, with three teams between them. Now, they’re 70-69, back above .500 for the first time since July 29, even with Kansas City (70-69) and closing in on Texas (72-69) as well as Seattle (73-67).
“We definitely feel better with where we’re at, where we’re positioned. We’ve just got to keep at it,” manager Kevin Cash said. “We’re a long ways away. There’s a lot of games left. But we should enjoy the way that we’ve played, certainly the last three days.”
They punctuated the sweep with an early offensive outburst. Speaking before the game, Cash noted the Rays would need to “be aggressive and get ready to hit” against the strike-throwing Kirby. Were they ever.
The Rays strung together five straight hits — including RBI knocks by Junior Caminero, Josh Lowe and Jake Mangum — and a sacrifice fly by Hunter Feduccia to put up four runs in a 27-pitch first inning. They matched that in the second with three straight hits, a sacrifice fly by Brandon Lowe, an RBI double by Caminero and a two-run single by Feduccia, who finished with a career-high three RBIs.
“We had really good at-bats against a really good pitcher,” Cash said. “They put it to us in Seattle, and it was nice for us to play three good ballgames and find a way to win them all.”
It was more of the same for the Rays, who have scored 69 runs while winning nine of their last 11 games, but it was highlighted by a career night by Díaz. His five-hit performance was the 11th in Rays history and the first since Tommy Pham on Sept. 18, 2019.
“I’d say that’s a crazy day,” he said. “You always have a crazy day in baseball, and today was mine.”
The early run support was more than enough for starter Adrian Houser, who set the tone for an excellent outing with the most efficient first inning possible: three pitches, three outs.
“You don’t get those often,” Houser said, smiling. “That’s kind of unheard of, so that’s a good way to start the night, for sure.”
Houser kept the Mariners off the board for five innings and wound up striking out eight over seven innings. That continued a strong run for Tampa Bay’s staff, which has posted a 2.11 ERA over the last 10 games.
“I think everybody’s happy in here. The energy is up. Vibes are up,” Houser said. “We’ve just got to keep our heads down and keep working, coming in every day ready to work, ready to play, and I think at the end of the day, we’ll put ourselves in a good spot when we come to the end of the season.”
