The Rays finished their regular-season home slate the same way they spent much of it - with a win, a comfortable cushion and another step toward something bigger.
Tampa Bay beat the Red Sox 5-1 on Sunday afternoon at Tropicana Field, closing out the home portion of the schedule with its 55th victory at the ballpark and moving to 95-60 overall. That puts the Rays one win away from clinching their first AL East title since 2021, and they can knock the Yankees out of the division race as soon as Tuesday.
Even more directly, a single victory in Tuesday’s doubleheader at Yankee Stadium would secure the division. Because Tampa Bay would also win the season series, it would hold the tiebreaker if the teams finished level.
“We've given ourselves a really good opportunity moving forward. That's for sure,” said starter Drew Rasmussen, who will pitch Game 2 on Tuesday. “I mean, we've earned it over the last four or five months, and now we have the opportunity to finish up the regular season on a high note.”
The Rays wasted no time making sure Sunday stayed on their terms. Their first three hitters loaded the bases against Boston left-hander Patrick Sandoval, and Jonny DeLuca cleared the first two runs with a double to left. Junior Caminero and DeLuca both came home right after that on a single from Chandler Simpson, and Tampa Bay had the kind of early lead that lets its pitching staff settle in.
Victor Mesa Jr. added more in the fourth with his 14th homer of the season, a drive to right field that stretched the advantage and kept the Red Sox from ever getting close.
Griffin Jax did the rest with no drama until the fifth. He worked five scoreless innings, struck out five and only faced real trouble when he loaded the bases with two outs in that fifth frame. He escaped by punching out Roman Anthony, ending another efficient outing with the Rays firmly in control.
The win completed an 8-1 homestand for Tampa Bay, a stretch that included three walk-off victories and series wins over the Astros, A’s and Red Sox.
“This month hasn't been easy by any terms. Been playing teams either in the playoffs or fighting for playoff spots.
So it's been a dogfight this month,” starter Nick Martinez said. “I think we just did a good job of staying focused on what we do best and and keeping our eyes ahead.”
At 55-26 at the Trop, the Rays will leave with the third-best home winning percentage in franchise history, trailing only 2008’s 57-24 mark and the 2020 team’s 20-9 finish in the pandemic-shortened season.
For a club that spent last year outdoors at George M. Steinbrenner Field, being back inside its longtime home mattered. The Rays made that clear all season, and now they’ve got more home games on the way.
“They've really embraced being back at home, for sure,” manager Kevin Cash said. “And I'm glad that we're continuing to play well here and know that we're banked in for some postseason games here.”
In Other News...
Rays Have One Lineup Question That Could Haunt Their October Run
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Some analysts have pointed out that the Rays might have been helped by adding another bat at the trade deadline, especially with the need for more consistent production late in the order. The defense remains a strength, and there are players who help in ways that do not always show up in the box score, but the club will need more than glove work if it wants to keep moving toward the ALCS and beyond. For a team with real October ambition, that lineup question is the sort that can linger if it is not answered soon. [Read more 🡒]
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For a franchise that has spent years navigating questions about its identity and its connection to the market, the timing and wording matter. The new road set is meant to feel rooted in the area the club says it represents, and starting with a high-profile series in New York gives the unveiling a bigger stage than a routine uniform switch usually gets. There is still the on-field part to come, but the visual shift alone says plenty about where the Rays want the conversation to go. [Read more 🡒]
Rays Head To The Bronx With October Pitching Doubts In Focus
The Rays head into the Bronx with a chance to lock up the AL East, but the bigger question hanging over this four-game set is how their pitching staff will look in an October-style setting. Nick Martinez and Drew Rasmussen are lined up to start at Yankee Stadium, which gives Tampa Bay a useful measuring stick against a Yankees lineup and a ballpark that tends to sharpen every mistake.
For a club that has spent much of the season evaluating pieces for the stretch run, this series offers more than a chance at a division title. It is also a chance to see whether the Rays can trust their starters in the kind of environment that often decides playoff series, where the pressure rises, the margin for error shrinks and Yankee Stadium can turn even routine innings into a test. [Read more 🡒]