Rays hit All-Star break with confidence

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Rays stumbled through the first three months of the season. Bottoming out in last place in the A-L East in early May, but they have found a surge of success over the last month, winning seven of their last eight series heading into the All-Star break, which is a first for the franchise.

"I thought we were generally terrible for at least part of it (first half)," Rays closer Pete Fairbanks said. "We were good for part of it. I think we ended it, seven of eight series to head into the break, so I think we’ll take that, barring the haunted house in Arlington.’'

The Rays have a long climb to match last year's 99 wins, which isn't likely, and they're 10 games back of division-leading Baltimore, but a shot at a Wildcard spot is possible. They're six games behind Boston in the loss column for the last American League spot.

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"I think we’re playing really good baseball in all facets; defense, pitching, hitting," Rays starting pitcher Ryan Pepiot shared. "Everyone’s coming around. It’s a big time to have that kind of confidence boost going into the break and come out of the break with the Yankees for four and hope to continue that. It’s baseball, anything can really happen. So, I think it’s just continuing on the grind, continue day to day, win the games we need to win. We go out there. We pitch, we hit, we play defense, I like our chances."

ST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA - JULY 14: Jose Siri #22 and Randy Arozarena #56 of the Tampa Bay Rays celebrates with Taylor Walls #6 and José Caballero #7 after defeating the Cleveland Guardians 2-0 at Tropicana Field on July 14, 2024 in St Petersburg, Flor

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With 66 games left, the Rays are facing a daunting road - the playoffs - with the toughest ranked remaining schedule in baseball. With the trade deadline approaching at the end of the month, the Rays front office is facing some tough decisions. Should they buy or sell? For Rays manager Kevin Cash, his belief is with the guys he has now.

"Look, we had to do something like that to get turned around in the right direction," Cash explained. "We got to keep kind of clawing back into this thing. We're capable of it. We just have to keep finding ways to win the series. You do that, and I think we'll find ourselves in a pretty good position as the season unfolds."

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