ANAHEIM -- This is what the Rays can do. These are the Rays that went 25-9 from late May through the midpoint of the season. This is who they believe they still are.
“I know everybody can put a bat on a ball, get on base, steal bags, get runs, hit home runs, do all aspects of the game,” Chandler Simpson said after the Rays’ 7-3 win over the Angels at Angel Stadium on Tuesday. “We know what we’re capable of. And we showed that today.”
The Rays put up at least seven runs in a single inning (the fourth) for the third time this season, and for the first time on the road since Oct. 1, 2023, at Toronto.
“Nice inning,” manager Kevin Cash said. “We needed an inning like that.”
To say the Rays entered Tuesday on a cold streak at the plate would be an understatement. Since Thursday, the team had gotten just 28 hits in its last 147 at-bats. The Rays were shut out twice in their weekend series against the Dodgers and scored just one run in Monday’s series opening loss to the Angels.
But in the top of the fourth inning on Tuesday, the floodgates opened.
“Really encouraging,” Cash said. “We got to continue to do that more, but we did a lot of good things in that inning. We showed our speed, created some havoc on the bases, had some good at-bats.”
Yandy Díaz opened things up with a chopper up the middle for a single and two pitches later, Brandon Lowe crushed a two-run homer to straightaway center field to give Tampa Bay a two-run lead.
It was Lowe’s 20th of the season, marking his third consecutive year with at least 20 home runs.
“It’s pretty cool. It’s awesome to be in this situation,” Lowe said. “Extremely thankful to actually be in the position to be able to do that. If you would’ve told that to high school me, I never would’ve believed you.”
They weren’t done after that however, as the first five batters of the top of the fourth had all gotten on base. Simpson — the ninth Ray to bat in the inning and making his return from a left index finger sprain — capped off the frame by lining an RBI double into left field.
He was originally looking for a bunt, but fouled off his first attempt. He went to his backup plan: look for José Soriano’s fastball, which Simpson knew he liked to throw. He knew he’d need to get a jump on it.
“Soon as I saw it where I like it, I was able to drive that the [other] way,” he said.
Dating back to June 29, the Rays held the worst record in the Majors at 8-23. In that span, they’ve averaged 3.5 runs per game. Only the Cardinals (3.4) have averaged fewer.
That’s a big deal for the Rays, who are 47-15 when they score at least four runs, and 36-6 when they score at least five. But when they score three runs or less, their record sinks to 9-44.
They entered Tuesday having lost 16 of their last 19 away games.
That trend can’t continue if they want to come out on the other end of this road trip still playing meaningful baseball.
Their seven-run fourth inning provided some crucial run support for starter Ryan Pepiot, who was perfect through the first four frames.
“That’s huge,” he said. “Been on a little bit of a struggle bus, as a whole entire team, as of late. Just to see the guys — contagious hitting, one after another — just smoke the ball. Brandon had a homer. Balls found a hole, Walls had a great bunt to score a run.
“Just doing things the right way, playing the right way of playing baseball. Using all the ways that you can score runs.”
The Rays showed a flash of the best version of themselves collectively. The bats have broken through. Now they need to keep it going.
“Just go play ball, man,” Jake Mangum said. “We all wanna win really bad. We just gotta go out there, play loose, play free. Have faith in one another that we’re gonna get the job done.”