Victor Mesa Jr. gave Tampa Bay another lift Wednesday night, and Griffin Jax handled the rest as the Rays beat the Atlanta Braves 7-2 to lock up the series in a meeting of first-place teams.
Mesa finished with two hits, including a home run, while Jax worked five innings and allowed just two hits and one run. The Rays also won the opener 7-1 on Tuesday, leaving them with a 14-3 edge in runs through the first two games of the three-game set.
Tampa Bay did plenty of damage without a barrage of extra-base hits. Mesa’s blast was the Rays’ only extra-base hit of the night, but they still piled up 10 hits, swiped three bases and kept pressure on Atlanta throughout the game. Jorge Mateo supplied a two-run single in a three-run second inning that helped create early separation.
The Braves’ only score against Jax came on Drake Baldwin’s homer in the fourth. That was the lone run Jax surrendered before handing things over with Tampa Bay in control.
The victory kept the AL East-leading Rays four games ahead of the New York Yankees. Their magic number dropped to four for clinching their first postseason berth since 2023. Atlanta, meanwhile, saw its NL East cushion over Philadelphia shrink to three games.
Reynaldo López took the loss for the Braves, giving up six runs in 4 2/3 innings in his first outing since July 26. López had just come off the injured list after missing 34 games with left knee inflammation. In the corresponding roster moves, right-hander Elieser Hernández was designated for assignment, left-hander Bailey Falter was recalled and right-hander Bryce Elder went on the 15-day injured list after right knee surgery on Tuesday.
Falter gave Atlanta a brief clean stretch out of the bullpen, throwing two perfect innings with one strikeout.
The series wraps up Thursday with Braves left-hander Martín Pérez (8-9, 3.25) set to face Rays right-hander Nick Martinez (14-4, 3.04).
In Other News...
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Victor Mesa Jr. has given the Rays another reason to keep watching the outfield picture as October approaches. In a recent game against the Braves, he delivered a home run and other key hits, adding to what has been a strong stretch at the plate. Over his last 15 games, he has produced three home runs and a .288 batting average, the kind of run that can quietly change how a team thinks about its bench and matchup options.
For Tampa Bay, the appeal goes beyond the bat. Mesa Jr. has also shown enough in the field to give the Rays another defensive alternative if they decide his overall skill set belongs in the postseason mix. With roster spots at a premium and the margins getting thinner, his recent play is making an already tricky October decision even harder to sort out. [Read more 🡒]
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The interesting part is how closely his new look lines up with the way Tampa Bay has historically attacked hitters. The Rays have long favored changeups in spots where advanced scouting and statistical modeling point them toward same-handed hitters, and Peraltas increased usage gives them another arm capable of following that blueprint. If the early trend holds, it could become one more example of the Rays helping a pitcher unlock a new level simply by asking him to see the game a little differently. [Read more 🡒]