Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Rays Blanked 5-0

The Oakland Athletics broke the Tampa Bay Rays’ two-game win streak Saturday afternoon, thanks to Eric Sogard’s sixth inning two-out single with Xavier Cedeno on the mound. At 24-20, Tampa Bay still leads the AL East by 1-1/2 games over New York.

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Rays Win Second Straight, 5-2

Evan Longoria belted the first of three homers Friday night in the Tampa Bay Rays’ second consecutive win over Oakland, this time by a score of 5-2. Steven Souza Jr. and Tim Beckham also homered, moving the Rays to five games over .500 for the first time this season. They now lead the division by 1-1/2 games over the Yankees.

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Rays Blank A’s 3-0, First in the AL East

The Tampa Bay Rays took over sole possession of first place in the AL East on Thursday, beating the Athletics by a score of 3-0. With New York idled by an off-day, Tampa Bay is now a half-game ahead of the division after Alex Colome and four relievers combined to blank Oakland.

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Rays Win 5-3, Tied For First

The Tampa Bay Rays won their second consecutive game, this time by a 5-3 score over the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday. The team struck first and eventually scored in four of their first five at-bats, while the pitching staff, with Erasmo Ramirez at the helm, held the Braves to three runs on four hits. Tampa Bay is now 22-18 and tied for first in the AL East.

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Resilient Rays Sit A Game Out of First

As of now, the Rays have anywhere from a 21.3% – 48.7% chance of a postseason berth (per FanGraphs and Baseball Prospectus, respectively). While one fourth of the way through a marathon-like season does not a playoff contender make, the prospect of being a contender past September is much better than chronically scratching at the eight-ball. …And it didn’t even take some trite motivational stunt to get them there — no offense, Joe.