Tropicana Field saw history made Thursday as the Tampa Bay Rays extended their impressive start to the season to 13 consecutive wins, becoming only the third team in modern baseball history to do so.
The Rays beat the Boston Red Sox 9-3, thanks to an incredible performance from their batting lineup.
Yandy Diaz and Brandon Lowe both hit solo home runs, while the Rays scored seven runs in the fifth inning to secure their place in the record books. The team’s 13-0 start to the campaign tied for the best winning streak to start a season, a feat previously accomplished by the Atlanta Braves in 1982 and the Milwaukee Brewers in 1987. Louis Maroons, who went 20-0 in 1884 while playing in the now-defunct Union Association League.
While the Rays are now off to the best start to a season in history, the all-time record for wins at any point in a season still stands at an impressive 26 games, set by the New York Giants in 1916.
After their win, Rays manager Kevin Cash congratulated his players on their success, saying, “There’s not one part of our game right now that we don’t feel good about.” He also thanked the team’s fans for their support, saying they “really stepped up when they needed to and our guys were motivated by that.”
However, the Rays’ record-tying performance was slightly damaged by an injury to pitcher Jeffrey Springs, who was forced to leave the game in the middle of the fourth inning with ulnar neuritis. Springs is now the third member of the team’s rotation to withdraw from spring training earlier this week after Tyler Glasnow and Zach Elfin.
Despite the setback, the Rays’ free-scoring batting lineup came to the team’s rescue. After Rob Refsnyder put the Red Sox up 1-0 in the first inning with a home run to left field, Diaz tied the score in the first inning with a homer of his own.
The Red Sox then added two more runs in the fourth and fifth innings to take a 3-1 lead, but any chance of a Boston upset ended in the bottom of the fifth as the Rays put the game away with seven runs. Started with 8- 3 superiority.
Francisco Mejia, Randy Arrozarina, Manuel Margot, and Lowe each had run-scoring singles before Harold Ramirez cleared the bases with a three-run double. Lowe then capped the Rays’ dominant display with another solo home run in the seventh inning, extending their lead and cementing their place in baseball history.
