TAMPA -- Welcome to George M. Steinbrenner Field, where suddenly the only thing hotter than the feels-like temperature at first pitch is the home team.
The Rays rode a strong pitching performance from starter Zack Littell, a tiebreaking three-run homer from Jonathan Aranda and a four-run eighth inning to a 7-2 victory over the Twins on Monday night, extending the Majors’ longest active winning streak to six games.
This is Tampa Bay’s longest winning streak since a seven-game run from June 3-9, 2023. They’ve won 11 of their last 16 games and 18 of 30 to move back above .500 (27-26) for the first time since they were 4-3 entering play on April 5.
“We know the kind of team that we are capable of being, and that's what we're showing right now,” Aranda said through interpreter Eddie Rodriguez. “We're playing with a lot of confidence.”
For good reason. As much as the Rays struggled to sustain any sort of momentum through the first third of the season, they seem to be finding their footing now.
They’ve won eight of their last 10 games at home after a 1-11 stretch that prompted a lot of questions about their performance at Steinbrenner Field. They have not trailed in their last 44 innings, and they’ve outscored opponents, 37-10, during this winning streak.
While their offense has come to life lately, scoring 20 runs the past two days, the Rays’ best stretch of the season has been built on stellar pitching and excellent defense.
The Rays have allowed only four runs in their last 37 innings and eight in their last 51. Their staff has recorded a 1.67 ERA during the winning streak, including a 1.50 mark by their starters. Tampa Bay’s starters have earned the win in five straight games, the longest such streak since an eight-start run from July 12-25, 2014.
“Everybody thought we had this in us, right? We knew the rotation was going to be really good,” said Littell, who has allowed three runs or fewer in eight straight starts and two runs or fewer in six of them. “Obviously, without Shane [McClanahan], it's taken a little bit of a hit. But I don't think anybody doubted the potential of the five guys that we do have.”
Littell kept it going in Monday’s series opener, capably handling the 89-degree heat at first pitch and an aggressive Twins lineup. Thanks to his own efficiency and two key double plays, he permitted only three singles and faced just one batter over the minimum through six innings.
“That's just what he's been like last however-many starts. He's got some really good pitches that he feels comfortable with throwing at any time,” catcher Danny Jansen said. “He's a lot of fun to catch.”
Littell had been going back and forth with Chris Paddack to that point, as the Twins starter only allowed three singles through five innings, but the Rays finally broke through in the sixth.
Brandon Lowe smacked a single to center field, giving him a nine-game hitting streak. Then Junior Caminero pulled a double down the left-field line, his fourth straight game with an extra-base hit. Finally, Aranda swatted a 1-2 sweeper from reliever Brock Stewart out to right field for his seventh home run of the season -- and his first at Steinbrenner Field since his walk-off shot on April 19.
“He's had a lot of big at-bats for us, for sure, these first two months of the season,” manager Kevin Cash said. “And that was a big one.”
Granted a lead, Littell retired Trevor Larnach for the first out of the seventh, then he was removed in favor of lefty Garrett Cleavinger after hitting Ty France despite having thrown only 72 pitches.
“I felt like, at that point of the game, Lit had given us everything. Cleav has been as good as any reliever in baseball,” Cash said. “With a three-run lead right there, let's see if we can lock this inning down.”
Cleavinger immediately served up a two-run homer to Carlos Correa, cutting Tampa Bay’s lead to just one run. But the Rays padded their lead in the eighth, piling on runs in a way they rarely did earlier this season.
Two runs scored when Larnach whiffed on José Caballero’s fly ball to the left-field wall, allowing it to land for a double. Then Jansen ripped a two-run homer to left, his fourth of the season and his third in his last nine games.
“Even through some of our ups and downs, I feel like we've shown consistent energy,” Cash said. “It's going to come out a little bit more when you're getting good results and you're scoring runs. … Guys are pumped for each other and excited and able to separate a game again.”