In beating Mets again, Rays cite simple reason for success: ‘We’re good’

NEW YORK — In scoring five runs during an impressive fourth inning to show off their offensive resourcefulness and versatility — and then relying on their usual strong pitching and defense the rest of the way — the Rays beat the Mets 8-4 on Saturday.

Entering the weekend, the mighty Mets had the most wins in the majors, so the Rays getting a second straight victory was something.

It also highlighted the impressive run the Rays have been on for nearly a month; their 17-6 record from May 20 on is the best in the game.

And Brandon Lowe, the most veteran Ray, had a message for anyone surprised by that accomplishment.

“We’re a good baseball team,” Lowe said “I think that’s one of the things that people kind of don’t speak on enough. Everyone’s trying to figure out why. We’re just playing good baseball on pretty much all fronts.

“We’ve made some errors in some games that have come back to haunt us, but we haven’t let that beat us. Our pitching staff is being a very Rays pitching staff where they’re fantastic for us. ...

“And there’s just all the different ways that we’re going to go about the game. We’re not going to sit there and wait for one thing to help us win. We’re going to find multiple different ways to get up there and try to push some runs across.”

They showed that quite well the last two days.

On Friday, they put together a six-run sixth inning with five singles, a run-scoring groundout and a two-run Danny Jansen homer.

Saturday’s big inning included a little more creativity.

“Anything to manufacture runs up and down the lineup,” said Taylor Walls, who had a big hand in it. “Guys are going to be able to do that different ways.”

There was a homer by Junior Caminero, snapping an 0-for-17 skid and providing an early Father’s Day present for his dad, Juan, who is up from the Dominican Republic.

“Those (slumps) are things that happen; I want to put the ball in play,” said Caminero via team interpreter Eddie Rodriguez. “I’ve been through that kind of bad funk and streak, but thank God I was able to hit the ball good today.”

There was a well-executed squeeze bunt, from manager Kevin Cash putting the play on and, more so, Walls getting the ball down in a spot where the Mets couldn’t even make a play.

“There’s going to be times where I get a chance to drive guys in,” Walls said. “There’s going to be chances to lay one down. Today was a day to where with the rain, the grass is really wet. (Mets starter Tylor Megill’s) strengths probably played into my weaknesses.

“After fouling a pitch off and going 1-1, Cashy had a good idea that that was a play that he wanted to go with. I was all for it. I got a good pitch to bunt and executed it.”

There were back-to-back run-scoring singles by Brandon Lowe and Yandy Diaz, and a Megill wild pitch that scored the fifth run.

“More good at-bats,” Cash said. “We’ve got first and third, Walls puts down a pretty perfect executed bunt. Then the hits that followed, we were just finding, not the big blast, but a bunch of base hits moving runners and (getting) good jumps on the bases. ...

“Our offense, when we can get our speed involved, it can be pretty tough to defend.”

Most appreciative was starter Drew Rasmussen, who admittedly wasn’t sharp in having what by his high standards looked like a bad day, allowing four runs — more than his five previous starts combined — and his first two homers since May 11.

“That five-run inning, it’s huge,” Rasmussen said. “I wasn’t overly sharp on my end of things but to get picked up by our offense is great.”

After the Rays took a 1-0 lead in the third, Rasmussen quickly gave up two runs. In the dugout, Brandon Lowe and others told him not to worry. The five-run outburst followed.

“One of his big things that he wants to do is anytime we score, he wants to put a zero up,” Brandon Lowe said. “So you knew that he was kind of kicking himself on that one a little bit. So it was just coming in and (saying), ‘Hey, man, we’re going to get it back. Stay locked in. We’re going to need you to go back out there and keep this lead that we’re going to get you.’

“And thankfully, it happened fairly quickly that we got that run back. So it made us look pretty good.”

They’ve looked good a lot during this stretch, improving from 21-26 (and a season-low five games under .500) to 38-32 (matching their season-high six games over).

“We’ve just found different ways to win,” Rasmussen said. “On a night like (Saturday) where I wasn’t all that great, our offense picks us up. We’ve won some games, tight and low scoring over the course of that stretch.

“But there’s a bunch of reasons. We play some of the best defense in baseball. Our pitching staff is one of the best in baseball. And our offense has been explosive for, we’re going on like, a six-week, seven-week stretch. I think they’re doing a great job of working good at-bats. And then when an opportunity presents itself for damage, we’re taking full advantage of that as well.”

• • •

Sign up for our Sports Today newsletter to get daily updates on the Bucs, Rays, Lightning and college football across Florida.

Every weekday, tune into our Sports Day Tampa Bay podcast to hear reporter Rick Stroud break down the biggest stories in Tampa Bay sports.

Never miss out on the latest with your favorite Tampa Bay sports teams. Follow our coverage on X and Facebook.