Rays beat Guardians, win 7 of 8 final series and get back to .500

ST. PETERSBURG — In some ways, the Rays entered the All-Star break underwhelming, with Sunday’s 2-0 victory moving them to just a 48-48 record through the first 3½ months.

But considering where they were at the start of the season and how they got to this position, this seems like a remarkable achievement.

“I’d guess we’re at .500 considering how we started the year,” closer Pete Fairbanks said. “I thought we were bad overall, at least in the first half, other parts we were good. And I think we finished it … (winning) seven of eight series before going into the break, so I think we’ll take that.”

They hope to build on that over the final 66 games to clinch their sixth consecutive playoff berth.

“Not the first half that everybody expected and wanted,” said Brandon Lowe, second baseman and designated hitter. “But we finished strong, won seven series or something and played really good baseball. We just had the Yankees and Cleveland, two very, very good teams – to be able to win both series definitely puts us in the right direction.”

Sunday’s win was in some ways an indication that they have played better and should continue like this.

They got off to a strong start by Ryan Pepiot, who played six innings and allowed only two singles.

They hit a leadoff home run by Jose Siri in the third inning to secure an early lead, and then hit another home run by Brandon Lowe in the sixth inning to break another 0-for day with runners in scoring position failing six times.

They made two errors in the third inning but later made several key defensive plays, the biggest of which was a run and diving catch by right fielder Josh Lowe in the sixth inning.

And their bullpen managed three scoreless innings, albeit with some drama from Fairbanks in the ninth inning, who allowed the first two Guardians to get in the game and then struck out the next three.

“That’s how we’re built to win games,” manager Kevin Cash said. “Find a way to get one or two big hits, and then shoot well and defend even better.”

Fairbanks said: “A first-class victory.”

By winning two of three against the Yankees (58-40) and Guardians (58-37), who have two of the three best records in the American League, the Rays did something they had never done in their first 26 seasons: They won seven of the eight series before the break. They are now 14-10 in that series.

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“When you look at how we’ve played against some of the best teams in baseball over the last two series, I think we’re doing pretty well,” Brandon Lowe said.

Although they are only at a .500 record — for the 21st time this season — and are 5½ games and four teams away from the final wild-card spot in the American League and have the toughest remaining schedule of any team (starting with a four-game series at the Yankees when play resumes Friday), they are feeling better, if not good, about their situation.

“I think we’re playing really good baseball in all areas – defense, pitching, hitting,” Pepiot said. “Everyone is getting better. It’s a good time to go into the break with that confidence boost and come out of the break with a four-point lead for the Yankees, and I hope to keep that up. …

“It’s baseball — anything can happen, really. I think we just have to keep going, keep going day by day and win the games we need to win. We go out there — we throw, we hit, we play defense, I like our chances.”

Siri added through team interpreter Manny Navarro, “I think we’re in a good place right now.”

The challenge will be to play better than we have so far and certainly than we did at the start of the season.

“We’ve done some good things. We’ve done some things that haven’t been so good,” Cash said. “But (I) like the way we’ve played here over the last month, call it whatever it is. I feel like we’re a better version of ourselves right now.”

“I want the guys to enjoy the break, they deserve it. And then we have to be ready to go because we’re playing against two division teams (the Yankees and the Blue Jays).”

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