ARLINGTON, Texas — Having met the challenge twice already this postseason in winning games rather than going home, the Rays say they won't prepare any differently for Tuesday's sixth, and potentially final, game of the World Series.
Which means no plans for a fiery speech by manager Kevin Cash, nor rousing oratories from team leader Kevin Kiermaier or Charlie Morton, the only player in the room with a Series ring.
"I think they'll be very consistent," Cash said Monday from the team hotel. "The vibe in the clubhouse (after Sunday's Game 5 loss), I heard a couple guys just saying, 'Hey, let's go, enjoy the off day, get ready to play.' That's what they do. So I would anticipate them being very consistent."
Plus, as with Game 5 of the American League Division Series against the Yankees and Game 7 of the AL Championship Series with the Astros, the players are well aware of the situation.
"We all know what the stakes are," outfielder Austin Meadows said Monday. "We just treat it like another day. Just go out there, we know what we have to do, we know what we have to accomplish. I think we realize the pressure of the situation, we realize what's going on.
"So treat it like any other day, get our work in, and go out and compete. Just try to do everything we can to win the game."
In winning 51 games thus far — 40 in the abbreviated regular season and 11 in the postseason — the Rays have met just about every challenge as they try to secure the championship they started talking about realistically in spring training.
Rookie reliever Ryan Thompson, the other player made available for media interviews Monday, said he has no doubt they will pull it off.
"Being a part of my first big-league spring training, I really didn't know what to expect. When I got there, we expected this,"Thompson said. "If we didn't get here, it would have been a failure, it would have been a disappointment. And to even go further, we expect to win this thing. We believe we can win these next two games. And we will.
"It was a thing where I knew from the get-go I was a part of a team that has high aspirations, and anything less than that would be falling short. The culture starts from the top, it's everybody from (general manager Erik) Neander and (team president Matt) Silverman all the way down. We believe we're going to take this thing home, and there's nothing that can stop us."
