By Rays Become First AL Team to 80 Wins With 9-4 Victory Over Padres
By Ken Filler | Tampa Bay Sports Journal
ST. PETERSBURG — Eighty wins.
The Tampa Bay Rays became the first team in the American League to reach that number Friday night, opening a brief five-game homestand with a convincing 9-4 win over the San Diego Padres at Tropicana Field.
And maybe the most encouraging part for Rays fans was how they did it.
They got power from Yandy Díaz and Cedric Mullins.
The Rays created havoc on the bases. They took advantage when San Diego gave them extra opportunities.
And when the door opened in the fourth inning, the Rays kicked it down with five runs.
That sounds a lot like the formula Tampa Bay hopes can carry this team deep into October.
The victory improved the Rays to 80-54 and made them the first AL club to reach 80 victories this season.
Yandy Díaz Continues to Make Rays History.
Díaz was once again right in the middle of everything offensively. The veteran went 2-for-5 with two RBIs and launched his 20th home run of the season, giving Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead in the third inning.
It was the 120th home run of Díaz’s major-league career and his 119th as a Ray, moving him into fifth place on Tampa Bay’s all-time home run list.
When the Rays brought Yandy Diaz to Tampa, he was a huge home-run threat. But he’s developed into one of the most consistent hitters in franchise history, and his name continues to climb the Rays record book.
Cedric Mullins also homered and drove in two runs, while Chandler Simpson went 2-for-4 with a double, scored twice and stole two bases.
Taylor Walls added two hits, scored twice and stole a base. That combination of power and speed made life miserable for San Diego.
Five-Run Fourth Breaks It Open
The Rays turned a 1-0 game into a 6-0 advantage with a five-run fourth inning.
Junior Caminero was hit by a pitch to begin the trouble for San Diego.
Simpson then reached on an error, Jonny DeLuca walked, and suddenly the Padres were staring at a bases-loaded situation.
And the Rays took advantage.
It wasn’t necessarily a highlight-reel inning filled with balls flying over the fence. It was something potentially even more important this time of year.
The Rays made the Padres pay for mistakes.
That’s what good teams do.
The Rays sent nine hitters to the plate during the inning and turned San Diego’s defensive problems into a comfortable lead.
Only two of the seven runs charged to Padres starter Casey Mize were earned.
The Rays don’t care how they score runs. At this point of the season, they all count the same.
Shane McClanahan Battles for Win No. 10
Shane McClanahan wasn’t nearly as dominant as he was in his previous start against Baltimore, but he did enough to give the Rays a chance to win.
McClanahan improved to 10-6, allowing four runs — three earned — on three hits over 5⅔ innings. He walked two and struck out four.
McClanahan is now an impressive 8-1 at home this season.
There were moments when McClanahan wasn’t as sharp as we have seen him, particularly after the Rays built the big lead.
San Diego scored twice in the fifth before Jackson Merrill hit a two-run homer in the sixth.
But what makes Friday’s win different is the Rays didn’t need McClanahan to be perfect.
80 Wins — And Bigger Goals Ahead
There is something significant about being the first American League team to 80 victories. But nobody inside the Rays clubhouse should be satisfied with it.
Not with the AL East still up for grabs.
And certainly not with a team that has spent most of this season showing it can play with anybody in baseball.
The Rays haven’t been perfect. We saw that during their previous homestand, when they went just 2-5 after returning home from a 9-0 road trip.
Friday night looked much more like the Rays team we watched during that road trip.
Aggressive. Opportunistic. Powerful when necessary. And capable of turning one bad inning by the opposition into five runs before you can blink.
There are still 28 games remaining, and there is plenty of baseball left to play.
But the Rays are 80-54 and lead the Yankees by four games in the AL East.
They are the first American League team to 80 wins.
As September arrives, this isn’t about whether Tampa Bay is going to be part of the postseason conversation anymore.
It’s about how far this team can go once October gets here.
