ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. _ The Rays are talking quietly, but confidently, that if they can play their way into the postseason they have a chance to go pretty deep.
On Wednesday, one of their few guys who has been there and won that, Charlie Morton, helped them take another big step toward the playoffs with a dominating six-inning start in a 4-0 win over the Yankees before an announced crowd of 20,390.
The win improved the Rays to 95-64 guaranteed that when they open the final series of the regular season on Friday in Toronto after having Thursday off, they can be no worse than tied for the second spot with the Indians, who were playing at the White Sox later Wednesday.
Also that the Rays will be no more than a game behind the wild-card leading A's, who had a half-game lead going into play late Wednesday at Anaheim.
Morton, who got the final out of the 2017 World Series for the Astros, played a huge role in Wednesday's win, holding the Yankees hitless for 5? innings, with only one ball hit to the outfield, before giving up a single to DJ LeMahieu.
Morton ended up working six shutout innings, allowing the one hit and three walks, striking out nine in his career-high 33rd start and pushing his innings total to 194?.
His work, plus that of relievers Diego Castillo, Oliver Drake, Nick Anderson (who got the biggest out, striking out Aaron Judge with two on in the eighth) and Andrew Kittredge, allowed the Rays to post just the second shutout of the powerful Bronx Bombers this season.
They kind of deserve extra credit, as going back to Tuesday's 2-1, 12-inning win by the Rays, they actually blanked the Yankees for 18 straight innings.
Before the game, manager Kevin Cash was talking, hoping, wishing aloud that it would be nice if the Rays could get a couple runs early to give Morton something to work with.
Joey Wendle took care of that, hitting the third pitch from Yankees opener Jonathan Loaisiga over the centerfield fence. Singles by Austin Meadows, Ji-Man Choi (who would later leave the game after fouling a pitch off his left foot) and Brandon Lowe turned it into a 2-0 lead.
After some wasted opportunities and another couple outs on the bases, the Rays built the lead to 4-0, with an RBI double by Matt Duffy in the sixth and Avisail Garcia's 20th homer of the season in the eighth.
As the Rays were set to jet off to Toronto after the game there was considerable certainty.
Not the least of which was knowing how long they'd be gone and if they'd be back to play another game under the Trop's tilted roof.
Being in the middle of a three-team race for the two AL wild-card spots that going into Wednesday's game saw only one game separating the three teams can do that.
"We could be going to a lot of places," Duffy said. "We could have to come back here. We could have to go to Oakland. We might have to go to Oakland and Cleveland, and then to New York and back here."
Even with the regular season ending Sunday, there indeed are multiple scenarios the Rays are facing, from their season ending frustratingly in Toronto to flying back to host the Oct. 2 AL wild-card game.
In the middle is the potential, and major headache for travel and logistics director Chris Westmoreland, of a three-way tie, which creates the possibility of the Rays playing in Toronto Sunday, Oakland Monday, Cleveland Tuesday and back in Oakland Wednesday, and with a win then a weekend trip straight to New York, or Houston, to open the division series.
The one thing the Rays do know, is that if they keep winning they better their chances to keep playing after Sunday.
Some Rays players took care of usual end of season business, tipping clubhouse staff they wouldn't see if the season ends on the road, or abruptly at home. But that was really the only outward sign Wednesday that the end could be near.
"It doesn't feel like the end of the season for us," Wendle said before the game. "I'm not guaranteeing us a playoff berth or anything like that, it just doesn't feel like the end. I packed a lot of clothes for this trip."
That's the instructions Westmoreland gave the players and rest of the traveling party, to be prepared to be on the road from Wednesday night until after the Oct. 5 second game of the division series.
Most got the memo as they talked about bringing some colder weather gear and clothes that could come in handy, especially in New York. "My suitcase is way overweight and I'm prepared for everything," centerfielder Kevin Kiermaier said."
Adding to the odd dynamic of the trip, the Rays have Thursday off while the Indians are playing the White Sox and the A's the Mariners.
"We'll have the TV on for a little bit, that's for sure," Wendle said. "It's going to be a little weird because we're not going to be able to control anything that's going on. But at the same time, we'll certainly be rooting for two teams in particular."
The Rays were looking to put a winning finish on their home schedule, having gone 47-33 thus far. While that seemed only so-so-, and slightly worse than their showing on the road, which is a bit unusual, they had gotten better as the season went, winning 16 of their last 20 going into Wednesday, and it would rank among their top six or seven showings in their 22 seasons.
"I think it evens out in the long run," manager Kevin Cash said. "I know we had a couple homestands where we were being asked the same questions over and over for good reason, we weren't performing or winning games at the clip we would like. But our last homestand (going 9-1 against the Indians, Orioles and Blue Jays) I thought we really did some big things and this homestand (4-1 against the Red Sox and Yankees pending the finale) we played well. ...
"We like playing here. We appreciate the fans that come out and show up and give us some energy, but I think most clubs will tell you they enjoying playing at home."
But most clubs don't play on artificial turf in a fixed roof dome with a white roof that makes fly balls hard to track and catwalks, speakers and wires that occasionally come into play.
"That's fine," Cash said. "We want to keep it to whatever home-field advantage we can keep. If it's not the most welcoming place, whether the roof, the stadium, whatever it is, so be it."
