ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. _ The Rays sure weren't looking like a team going to the playoffs, or even battling to do so, in the early innings Monday.
Their pitchers, starting with a somewhat ineffective Blake Snell, were giving up runs to the Red Sox, four through the first four innings.
Their hitters weren't doing anything, hitless the first time through the order against Boston starter Jhoulys Chacin and his 5.66 ERA.
And there wasn't much of a feverish inspiring crowd at the Trop � just an announced 8,779 � to cheer them on.
And then all of a sudden the Rays looked very much capable of playing their way into the tournament by winning one of the AL wild card spots, launching three long and loud homers in the fourth inning and rolling to a 7-4 victory.
With the win, the Rays improved to 93-64 and moved into sole possession of the second AL wild card, a half-game ahead of the Indians, who were off Monday. The Rays also moved to within 1{ games of the also idle A's, who hold the top spot, and also hold the tiebreaker over them.
Snell was not as sharp or effective in his second start since coming off the injured list compared to his first, needing 52 pitches to get five outs, walking three (all on two-strike pitches) and allowing the Red Sox to take a 1-0 lead.
The hole got deeper from there as Pete Fairbanks gave up one run in the third inning, then Austin Pruitt, looking like a guy who hadn't pitched in nearly two weeks, made it 4-0 Boston in a messy fourth.
But as down as things looked in the half-empty Trop at that point, they changed quickly in the bottom of the fourth.
And loudly.
By the time the Rays were done swinging, they'd hit three long and loud 400-plus foot homers, in a five-batter span, and were up 6-4.
Singles by Austin Meadows, named earlier Monday co-team MVP with Charlie Morton, and Travis d'Arnaud got them set up with singles.
Ji-Man Choi delivered the first big blow, a three-run homer to center, estimated by StatCast to go 412 feel and clocked at 99.6 mph off the bat.
One out later, Brandon Lowe formally announced his day before return from the injured list with a blast to rightfield that struck the Moffitt Cancer Center signage attached to the back wall, seemingly underestimated at 441 feet and with an exit velocity of 110 mph.
And after Kevin Kiermaier was hit by a pitch for the second straight day, Willy Adames reached the 20-homer plateau he had his sights on with a 409 foot shot to left, that came off his bat at 103.7 mph.
Once the Rays took the lead, manager Kevin Cash went straight to the higher leverage relievers, using Oliver Drake for the fifth and sixth, Nick Anderson in the seventh, Diego Castillo in the eighth and Emilio Pagan for the ninth. Pagan didn't start well, allowing a pair of singles, then with one out Cash made a bold move, taking out his closer and bringing in lefty Colin Poche.
The rookie has had his struggles this season, but as he closed out the win with two strikeouts he showed his emotion.
The Rays are talking a good game about the pressure of playing games into the final week of the season battling for a playoff spot.
"It's fun," Brandon Lowe said before the series finale with the Red Sox. "This is what everybody really dreams about. All these games matter. It's a super competitive time. I bet you could ask anybody in the locker room at the same time and they're all going to say the same thing, this is exciting baseball and it's what you do all the work in the preseason and offseason for."
Well, maybe not everyone.
Kiermaier, the longest-tenured Ray, acknowledged that fun isn't the only thing he's experiencing _ including maybe some gray hairs and high blood pressure.
"This stuff isn't very great for our health," he said. "But when you come in here and win and celebrate (in the clubhouse) it just lets you relax and unwind a little bit. Because the tension throughout the whole day, everyone knows what's at stake. This so fun, so important, you have so many emotions going through your head. I know I'm talking for everyone in here _ we all want to get there.
"This race being this tight is very nerve-wracking. But then we're out here playing one-run games every night and that's a whole new level of nerve-wracking. I'll bet I've some gray hairs that are trying to creep through. This is not great for the blood pressure. This is so much fun. If you don't feel all that, then this isn't where you belong."
The Indians are back in action on Tuesday, opening a three-game series in Chicago against the White Sox, then going to Washington, where they will face a Nationals team battling for wild-card positioning, and without the benefit of using their DH for the NL rules games.
The A's also finish on the road, opening a two-game series at the Angels on Tuesday night and then finishing with a four-game set in Seattle. After finishing with the Red Sox on Monday, the Rays host a two-game series with the Yankees starting Tuesday.
The Yankees come into the Trop straddling a line between competing with the Astros for the best record in the AL and with the Dodgers for the best overall mark, and the postseason home-field advantages that come with it, and resting some players and lining up their pitching for the division series, which depending on their finish could be against the Twins or the wild-card game winner.
The Rays will be off Thursday, while the Indians and A's play, then open their final series in Toronto against the Blue Jays, managed by Charlie
