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The Rays continue to blow through the American League and they’re running away with the AL East. At this point, it would take a massive collapse for them to lose the division as they lead the Yankees by six games and the Red Sox by nine. That and our usual trip around MLB. Let’s get to it.
I think Monday night might have broken me regarding the ever-annoying Tampa Bay Rays, and Tuesday only reinforced the sledgehammer slamming into the top of my head.
They were down 6-2 entering the eighth inning Monday against the A’s, then scored eight runs to win 10-6 for their seventh consecutive victory (all on the road) and 13th in their last 16 games. Eight runs in one inning. And then Tuesday, Junior Caminero hit a two-run homer five minutes into the game and the Rays were on their way to a 12-4 laugher.
So that’s 20 runs in their 11 last innings out in Sacramento. The feeble Yankees, even with their four-run explosion in a 4-1 victory over even more feeble Seattle, have scored 16 runs in their last six games. Yes, games.
“Every single day we go out on the field and we know that we’re not going to give up, and today just kind of embodied that,” said Caminero. “Everybody did their part.”
The Rays have won eight in a row, they’ve had seven wins this season when they were trailing by at least four runs after seven innings, they have an MLB-leading 31 comebacks victories, and they improved to 65-0 when taking a lead into the ninth. It’s unbelievable what this team is able to accomplish on not even half the payroll of the Yankees, and it should be downright embarrassing to Hal Steinbrenner, Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone.
Folks, I’m calling it right now. The AL East race is over for the Yankees. The Rays are six games ahead of the Yankees and it’s really seven because all they need to do to clinch the season series is take one of the four games the teams will play Sept. 22-24 in New York. That would give them the tiebreaker edge, meaning the Yankees can’t finish tied in the standings with them or it’ll be 2025 and Toronto all over again.
Junior Caminero and the Rays are on their way to the AL East title, and there’s really nothing the Yankees can do about it.
Maybe I’ll have to eat my words - I seriously doubt it - but there’s no plausible way the Yankees are getting on a hot enough streak to make up that deficit, not
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