ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. _ The Rays reached the official midseason mark of this abbreviated campaign leading the American League East despite Monday's 6-4 loss to the Blue Jays at Tropicana Field.
This undoubtedly has been a strange season so far, down to the division rivals that have given the Rays the most trouble.
It's not the Yankees or Red Sox. The Rays are a combined 11-2 against them. It's the Blue Jays and Orioles, teams that Tampa Bay is just 6-7 against.
The Rays have seen more than their share of the Blue Jays in the first half _ 10 of their first 30 games were against Toronto _ and thankfully they won't see any more of them during the regular season.
Tampa Bay took a 3-1 lead into the sixth inning, but the Blue Jays _ who have handed the Rays four of their 11 losses this season _ took a 5-3 lead on Randal Grichuk's three-run homer off Aaron Loup in the seventh.
Loup entered the game with one on and two outs in the inning. Cavan Biggio reached on a catcher's interference call, and Grichuk turned on an elevated cutter, lining it over the short fence in the left-field corner.
Still, the Rays went into the midway point of this year's 60-game regular season with a 19-11 record and a half-game lead over the Yankees in the division (though the Yankees lead in percentage points).
The Rays have won 13 of their last 16 games while maneuvering through a flurry of pitching injuries, maintaining a next-man-up mentality. Their offense is frustrating to face, because they combine a rare mix of power and patience.
One of the Rays' most promising signs going into the second half is that left-hander Blake Snell is starting to settle in. Snell held the Blue Jays to two runs over 5? innings, logging his longest start of the season.
All three Rays runs came on home runs. Yoshi Tsutsugo snapped an 0-for-14 stretch with his fourth homer of the season, a solo blast in the second off methodical Toronto starter Tanner Roark.
In the fourth, Willy Adames took a full-count sinker over the outside part of the plate the other way, pinging it off the right-field foul pole for a two-run homer. Tsutsugo, who drew a one-out walk, also scored.
The Orioles visit the Trop for a three-game series starting Tuesday. The last time the teams played, the Rays were just 4-6 after being swept in a three-game series at Camden Yards.
On Monday, the Rays committed two errors and hit into three double plays, including one that ended the eighth with the tying run on first after cutting the lead to 5-4. Joey Wendle was thrown out at the plate in the second inning trying to score from first on an Adames double.
Right-hander Edgar Garcia, making his first appearance with the Rays since being acquired from the Phillies last week, walked two of three batters in the seventh and was the beneficiary of a 3-6-1 double-play ball before giving way to Loup.
Of the seven runs that Loup has allowed in 13 relief appearances this season, six have come against the Blue Jays, his former team.
