Tampa Bay Rays reach 90 regular season wins for fourth year
Rays achieve impressive milestone - even before reaching the playoffs
The Tampa Bay Rays have achieved a milestone this year, even before reaching the playoffs.
For the first time in team history, Tampa Bay reached 90 regular-season wins for the fourth year in a row.
“That’s outstanding, a great tribute to the organisation from top to bottom,” manager Joe Maddon said after the Rays beat the Yankees 4-0 Thursday night to stretch their winning streak to seven. “Having been a minor league runt myself, I can totally appreciate what everyone from A-to-Z ball and all the way up to Triple-A does for this organisation.”
On a night when Mariano Rivera made his final Yankee Stadium appearance, Tampa Bay maintained a one-game lead over Cleveland in the AL wild-card race and lowered to two its magic number over Texas for clinching a postseason berth. The Rays outscored the Yankees 19-3 during a three-game sweep.
After the game, the jovial Rays made rookies wear dresses for the flight to Toronto, part of a late-season ritual across the majors.
“There’s no better time,” said Evan Longoria, who drove in eight runs in the series. “I didn’t think today together could go any better for us as far as the outcome of the game, being able to experience that whole thing and having the rookie dress-up on the same day. It’s like we get the trifecta today.”