ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. _ The Rays are at that point of the season where they are no longer concerned with the how.
It's all about wins, and getting as many as they can to clinch a spot in the playoffs, and then improve their seeding in the expanded field by finishing first in their division, then the best record in the league.
They took care of that Tuesday, taking advantage of mistakes and misplays by the Nationals to score a 6-1 victory.
They improved their record 31-17 and, at the very least, maintained their 3{-game lead in the American League East with 12 to play. They Rays reduced to four their magic number (combination of their wins and opponent losses) for clinching a playoff spot, and could be celebrating _ in the subdued manner of 2020.
Tuesday's victory was a combination of good pitching especially, especially by Ryan Yarbrough, who worked 5 1/3 strong innings behind opener John Curtiss, and an opportunistic offense.
The Rays took a 2-0 lead in the second.
One came on a 416-foot blast by Nate Lowe, whom they are counting more heavily on with Ji-Man Choi joining Yandy Diaz on the injured list. The second came with help. Kevin Kiermaier, who singled, moved up to second on starter Anibal Sanchez's balk, which put Kiermaier in position to score on Kevan Smith's screaming single, with an exit velocity of 109.5 mph.
The Nationals made some more mistakes, and the Rays took advantage, scoring four in the fifth.
The rally started somewhat benignly, with Austin Meadows singling and stealing second, Brandon Lowe lining out and Mike Brosseau being hit by a Sanchez pitch. With a full count on Yoshi Tsutsugo, Sanchez was called for a second balk, but the pitch was ball four and under the rules the walk supersedes the balk, which loaded the bases.
That's where the Rays got opportunistic.
A ground ball to the right side that came off Manuel Margot's bat at 62 mph caught the Nationals out of position and got one run home. A five-pitch walk to Nate Lowe by reliever Ben Braymer scored another. An out later, Kiermaier laced an opposite-field single to left to make it 6-0.
The Nats got one run off Yarbrough in the sixth when Juan Soto doubled and came around on two groundouts. They loaded the bases in the ninth against Ryan Sherriff, but Nick Anderson came on to get the final two outs.
The Rays used Curtiss as the opener, and he did well in getting the first four outs before giving way to Yarbrough.
That marked a return to the innovative strategy the team introduced in 2018 and used heavily through last season, including once in the playoffs, 99 times total, and with a 59-40 times.
But this was only the fourth time the Rays had done so this season, and the first since Aug. 20.
Manager Kevin Cash said before the game that it was a combination of circumstances _ having Curtiss available from a bullpen that has been taxed much of the season, Yarbrough not being fully stretched out, and the matchup against the Nationals.
"It's something that gives us a good chance to win," Cash said. "When we think that's the right lineup, or we have the right availability with relievers to do that and it presents itself, we're going to use it.
"We've had a lot of success with it. It sets us up maybe a little bit better for some of those midgame decisions. Certainly want Curtiss to get it going and then get it to Yarbs. Yarbs can build off what he did. He got the pitch count really high, but the stuff looked fine. The command wasn't there. Hopefully he'll get into a rhythm ... where he gets his command back and headed in the right direction."
Cash said the only reason they didn't use the opener more often this season was because the right personnel was not available.
"We worked so hard to see that through and had success with it," he said "We're going to continue to use it in different spots. This has been a very different type of the season, and the health of our pitchers has been challenged as much as any that I can recall. (Using the opener) hasn't been made that readily available to us. But I do think we're getting back in a situation where guys are a little bit more built up. We are getting healthier. It presents the availability to go with that."
