All the Tampa Bay Rays do is win.
The Rays are the hottest team in baseball right now after winning two of three at home against the best team in baseball record-wise, the Detroit Tigers.
It has been a great month of baseball for the Rays, who have gone 7-3 over their last 10 games and 22-9 over their last 31 games. This includes a series sweep over the New York Mets last weekend, who at the time, had the best record in the National League.
The Rays have scored 189 runs in that span which is number one in baseball, and have hit 44 home runs which is second in baseball over the last month.
The Rays’ offense has moved to fifth in the American League, hitting .252. Yandy Diaz has been on a tear the last month, which has propelled this Rays offense to the next level. Diaz has raised his average to .282 with 12 home runs and 44 runs batted in.
Junior Caminero, Jonathan Aranda, and Jake Mangum have continued to spray the ball all over the field. Caminero has 19 homers this season, and 11 homers and 30 runs batted in over the last month of the season.
Brandon Lowe has also been hot after a slow start to the season. Lowe is hitting .264, is second on the team in home runs with 15, and has driven in 42 runs.
But what has helped this Rays offense more than anything is the timely hitting from the bottom of the lineup.
Taylor Walls has gotten timely hits, raising his average to .222. Danny Jansen, whose propensity for hitting home runs was missing to start the season, now has seven homers on the season and is on pace to hit 16.
Curtis Mead has raised his average to .250. Matt Thaiss has been a huge improvement over Ben Rortvedt at catcher. Thaiss is hitting .281 in 32 at-bats and has driven in five runs.
The Rays’ starting pitching has also been excellent during this stretch.
Taj Bradley has been the only weak link going just one and a third innings against the Orioles on Wednesday night, giving up seven runs on six hits. Bradley has struggled this last month and is 4-5 with a 4.95 ERA on the season. Manager Kevin Cash admitted that Bradley has struggled, but said the team is committed to helping him get back on track. With Joe Boyle almost unhittable at AAA Durham, you wonder how long the Rays will be patient with Bradley before we see Boyle back in Tampa.
The Rays beat up on the Tigers 14-8 on Friday night and followed that up with an 8-3 win on Saturday afternoon. The Rays would lose the finale of the three-game series 9-3, as newly acquired Forrest Whitley could not get one out in the ninth inning as he gave up six runs on six hits, while throwing just 16 pitches Sunday afternoon.
The Rays now head to Kansas City to open up a three-game series with the Royals on Tuesday night. Bradley, Drew Rasmussen, and Shane Baz will start for the Rays.
The Royals swept the Rays at Steinbrenner Field earlier this season, outscoring the Rays 14-3 over the three-game series. But this time the Royals will be facing a Rays team that is much better offensively than the team that the Royals faced in Tampa in late April.
The Rays are 43-35, and trail the Yankees by 2.5 games in the AL East. In the wildcard race, the Rays are in first place with a 1.5 game lead on second-place Toronto, and a three-game lead over Seattle and Cleveland.