The Rays didn’t get the September jolt they wanted on Wednesday night, but the mood around the clubhouse hasn’t changed. The calendar says meaningful baseball, and Tampa Bay is leaning into it.
After opening the homestand with a sweep of the Padres, the Rays dropped two of three to the last-place Mets, finishing with a 10-4 loss at Tropicana Field. It was the kind of game that can flatten a team if it lets it linger. This group doesn’t sound interested in that.
“It's not like we've dreaded September the last couple of years, but it's just one of those things where there's more adrenaline, more excitement to it, right?” starter Drew Rasmussen said recently.
“Because you know what's coming, and you know the opportunity we have at hand. But it still comes down to winning every single day.”
That message mattered even more after Wednesday’s loss unfolded early and quickly. Griffin Jax, back from the injured list for his first start since being scratched on Aug. 8 because of right elbow discomfort, gave up six runs on seven hits and two walks while getting only eight outs. The outing wasn’t pretty, but Jax said he came out of it feeling physically fine.
His arm felt good, he said, and there were no signs of the elbow issue that sent him for a visit with Dr. Keith Meister.
The stuff, in his view, was there. The sharpness wasn’t.
Jax admitted he felt “a little rusty, maybe a little out of sync” after a stretch that included a pair of simulated games and one Minor League rehab start. He had been excellent after moving from the bullpen to the rotation in late April, putting up a 3.16 ERA across 18 starts. This time, the game speed hit him fast.
“Really excited to get back out there, get back with these guys. Just trying to help down the stretch,” Jax said. “Rude awakening back to it, but it is what it is, and we start working for the next one.”
The Rays had a chance to escape Jax’s rough first inning with less damage. With two on and two outs, he gave up a single to Jared Young.
Victor Mesa Jr. made a clean play in right and fired a strong throw to catcher Liam Hicks, but Hicks couldn’t secure it in time to tag Bo Bichette at the plate. The ball got away, Carson Benge scored, and Marcus Semien followed with an RBI double.
“I've just got to make the play. I think I probably took my eye off of it.
Tried to make the tag before the ball was secure,” Hicks said. “The outing could have been completely different if I make the play.”
Tampa Bay did at least show some fight, trimming the deficit with a four-run rally to get within two. But the Mets answered with four more runs against Cam Booser and Manuel Rodríguez in the seventh and eighth innings, and that was that.
Manager Kevin Cash said afterward that he expected a response.
“I'm confident we'll respond. We certainly wanted to finish a little stronger, just given the tone that we set [in] some big San Diego games,” Cash said afterward. “But the Mets swung the bat well today and got the timely hits, and we didn't.”
The Rays won’t have much time to sit on it. They flew to Texas right after the game and will open a four-game series Thursday at Globe Life Field, where things have been rough for them for years. Tampa Bay has lost nine straight in that ballpark, and now it walks into a Rangers team with plenty on the line.
Texas, along with the Blue Jays and Orioles, is 1 1/2 games behind the Guardians for the final AL Wild Card spot. After that, the Rays head to Atlanta for three games against the NL East-leading Braves.
Shane McClanahan sees the challenge for what it is.
“It's going to be fun playing some meaningful baseball these next couple weeks,” McClanahan said. “If you want to get in the playoffs, you’ve got to play playoff teams, so we're looking forward to the challenge. We're looking forward to getting out there and hopefully changing the narrative on that ballpark.”
In Other News...
Yankees Have A New Rays Problem In The AL East Race
The Rays added another useful piece to a roster that has stayed in the middle of the AL East race by moving for catcher Liam Hicks from the Marlins in a trade that did not require either side to part with a top-10 prospect. Tampa Bay has liked the early return. Hicks has given the lineup a jolt since arriving, hitting .328/.425/.522 with 13 RBIs and three home runs in 23 games, the kind of production that can matter in a division where every steady bat gets magnified.
With Tampa Bay up 3.5 games, the timing of that upgrade matters just as much as the numbers attached to it. The Rays are trying to protect their lead and line up for an automatic bye to the ALDS, and Hicks has quickly become part of that push rather than a passive deadline add. For a team always hunting for edges, the real question now is whether this is simply a strong start or another trade that ends up looking even better as the race tightens. [Read more 🡒]
Rays Enter September With One Pitching Question That Could Decide October
The Rays enter September in as strong a position as any club in the American League, and the math around the standings is getting simpler by the day. One more win over the Yankees would lock up the tiebreaker, while Bryan Baker has given Tampa Bay a legitimate late-inning anchor with an MLB-high 39 saves and a 1.50 ERA. The back end has become a real strength, and the rotation has gotten a boost from Freddy Peralta, whose recent run has added another layer of depth behind Drew Rasmussen and Nick Martinez.
The one place still worth watching is the left side of the bullpen, where the Rays have not yet found the same steady answers. Garrett Cleavinger has struggled, while Cam Booser has flashed enough to suggest there may be help there if the staff can keep sorting through the options. For a team with October in sight and a division race still being settled at the margins, that one pitching question may matter more than anything else between now and the postseason. [Read more 🡒]
Rays Deadline Gamble On Freddy Peralta Looks Bigger After Latest Start
Freddy Peralta has settled into the Rays rotation quickly enough that the deal for him is already looking like the kind of deadline move Tampa Bay likes to make. Acquired from the Mets on Aug. 2 for three prospects, Peralta has given the Rays six appearances and three quality starts, the sort of steady return that can matter most when a team is trying to line up its October staff.
The latest reminder came against his old club, when he looked every bit like the pitcher Tampa Bay thought it was getting. Peralta retired 17 of the final 18 hitters he faced in that outing, another sign that the Rays bid to bolster the back end of their rotation for the postseason may be paying off, even if the full verdict on the trade will not come until the pressure rises later. [Read more 🡒]