TAMPA -- The Rays expected to learn a lot about themselves during the first third of the season -- the “first trimester,” as president of baseball operations Erik Neander has called it.
As the first trimester ended and the second one began with a 5-0 win over the Twins on Wednesday afternoon at George M. Steinbrenner Field, the Rays wrapped up a homestand in which they learned just how many different ways they can beat teams.
Tampa Bay went 7-2 over the past nine games, won series against Houston, Toronto and Minnesota and outscored them, 47-18. It was only the fifth time in club history (and the first since 2018) that the Rays won at least seven games on a nine-game homestand. The successful stint at Steinbrenner Field pushed them back above .500, at 28-27, and into second place in the American League East.
“Felt this was a group that has the potential to pick up speed as we go -- and certainly picked up a lot of speed [over] the last week,” Neander said.
Encouraging as they’ve been, the results aren’t the only thing that matters. It might matter more how the Rays have won these games.
“I think we have a very good team here. Some of the play early on wasn't representative of what we're able to do,” second baseman Brandon Lowe said. “I think that we're really showing what we can [do] right now.”
The Rays' pitching and defense have been outstanding, allowing three or fewer earned runs in a season-high six straight games. Their starters have handled the bulk of the work while permitting two or fewer earned runs in eight straight outings.
Drew Rasmussen kept that run going in Wednesday’s series finale, holding the Twins to just one single and one walk while striking out five over six innings. He’s the fifth pitcher in team history to record three straight scoreless starts of at least six innings.
“He was pretty dominant today,” manager Kevin Cash said. “He's really executing pitches at a very high level over his last handful of starts.”
Their offense has been dynamic. They’ve out-homered their opponents, 13-6, over the past seven games and have gone deep 21 times in their past 15 games. They got two on Wednesday -- a solo shot from Lowe, his 11th, and a two-run homer from Junior Caminero, his 10th -- and improved to 11-3 this season when hitting multiple homers.
It is no coincidence that the Rays’ best stretch since 2023 has coincided with one of Lowe’s hot streaks. He has hit safely in 11 straight games, the second-longest streak of his career, and four of his homers have come during this stretch.
After hurting his backside while making a nice play at third base in the fourth inning, Caminero remained in the game and crushed his sixth extra-base hit in the past six games to left-center off Twins starter Pablo López.
“I feel good. My butt hurts a little bit,” Caminero said through interpreter Eddie Rodriguez with a smile. “I told Cashy I was gonna hit three more homers today so I didn't have to run hard.”
Tampa Bay has also continued to pressure opponents on the basepaths. Chandler Simpson stole second in the fourth before he and Kameron Misner pulled off a double-steal, giving the Rays 28 steals over their past 13 games, multiple steals in nine of those contests and an MLB-leading 76 overall.
“We have athleticism, and then on top of it, we do have a power element that really helps us,” Rasmussen said. “I can't say enough about what they've done over this homestand, for sure, and what I think we're going to be capable of moving forward.”
And the Rays have done all this at home, erasing the doubts about their performance at Steinbrenner Field that arose during a 1-11 stretch at the ballpark. As the temperature has risen, leaving opponents looking (and sounding) increasingly uncomfortable, so has Tampa Bay’s level of play.
“The makeup of the group, the unit, they’re well-connected,” Neander said. “There's not a whole lot of excuse-making. It's baseball. This is our opportunity.”
And with the second third of the season underway, the Rays appear poised to make the most of it.
“It doesn't mean a whole lot unless you continue to play that way and build on it,” Neander said. “This second trimester is really going to be, 'All right, let's see what we've got,' right? Because [at] the end of the second trimester, you have the Trade Deadline and you have those decisions.
“But [we] believe this is a group [that during] the second trimester can rip off a lot of wins and continue to build on some of what we've seen here and there more recently.”