The Tampa Bay Rays have been doing a lot of sweeping this season and will look to keep those brooms handy Tuesday night against the Athletics in St. Petersburg, Fla.
In Sunday’s 14-4 trampling of the Houston Astros, the Rays (90-59) closed the first three-game series of a nine-game homestand by putting the finishing touches on their MLB-best 15th sweep of 2026 and keeping Houston elite closer Josh Hader from appearing in the series.
That sweep also became the most in franchise history, whizzing past the 14 completed by the 2021 club.
The victory pushed the Rays’ home record to an AL-best 50-25 (.667), the only team reaching the half-century mark in wins and seven more than the Chicago White Sox, who are 43-31 (.581) and own the second-highest total.
Yet it’s not only at home where Tampa Bay has excelled.
Manager Kevin Cash’s crew went to Atlanta and won two of three from the first-place Braves in a week that saw the AL East’s top team go 5-1 and expand its division lead to four games over the New York Yankees.
Winning the series from the Braves, who are a stout 51-27 in their park, and toppling the AL West-leading Astros have given the Rays even more reason to believe this campaign could end in a champagne rain.
“I think that we have the talent and the opportunity to take it all, man,” said Sunday’s winning pitcher, Freddy Peralta, who spun five no-hit innings and won for the fourth straight start.
Although it’s pretty far back in their rearview mirror, the A’s (61-89) produced a solid first two months of this season. But entering play on Monday, the team sat in fourth place in the AL West, 4 1/2 games ahead of the last-place Los Angeles Angels.
On Memorial Day, the A’s held the top spot in the division, which the Astros now hold with a 75-75 record. Mark Kotsay’s bunch was 27-26 and led the Seattle Mariners by 2 1/2 games, but both of those clubs have fallen out of the race, leaving the Astros and Texas Rangers to duke it out in baseball’s most underwhelming division.
“(Even though) we’re not playing for the playoffs, there’s still something to be played for,” Kotsay said after Lawrence Butler’s two-run homer walked off the Mariners 8-7 on Sunday. “This group has really come together.
“With all the injuries we’ve dealt with, you’d like to have seen this group a little earlier play the way they’ve played … I think we’ve won nine series out of 12. That says a lot about the continued grind and fight that they want to end the season strong.”
Jack Perkins (3-11, 6.53 ERA) will take a fourth straight turn in the rotation Tuesday. He started and took the loss against the Rays on Aug. 12 in West Sacramento, surrendering seven runs (six earned) on 12 hits over five innings. Liam Hicks took him deep for a three-run homer in the 8-4 defeat. It was Perkins’ first career appearance against Tampa Bay.
Rays probable starter Griffin Jax (7-10, 3.99) was impressive in Wednesday’s 7-2 win over the Braves. He allowed just one tally, on a solo homer by Drake Baldwin, and won for the first time since coming back from a month on the shelf with right elbow discomfort.
The right-hander is 2-0 with a 0.68 ERA and three saves in 13 relief appearances against the A’s.
–Field Level Media
