(St. Petersburg) After going undefeated against four teams with losing records, the Tampa Bay Rays will now head to Toronto with their sights set on breaking a record dating back to 19e century for the number of consecutive victories at the start of the campaign.
“We are a team that plays in a small market and people in this league have not always had very good things to say about us, but that does not prevent us from being welded”, mentioned Manuel Margot by l an interpreter after the Rays defeated the Boston Red Sox 9-3 on Thursday to improve to 13-0 this season.
The Rays came from behind producing seven runs in the fifth inning, and they tied the mark that was co-held by the 1982 Atlanta Braves and the 1987 Milwaukee Brewers.
The absolute mark to start a campaign is 20-0 and it belongs to the 1884 St. Louis Maroons, who played in the defunct Union Association.
The Rays won all but two of their games by at least four points and outscored their opponents 101-30 during that sublime streak. They are also first in the Major Leagues in points scored and points allowed.
“When you do that kind of thing, then you play really, really well,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. There is not the slightest aspect of our game that concerns us at the moment. »
In front of a crowd of 21,175, the largest at Tropicana Field since their opener, the Rays set a franchise record for their longest winning streak — at any point in the season — which was of 12 set in June 2004. This streak includes the playoffs against the Detroit Tigers, Washington Nationals and Oakland Athletics.
The Red Sox, who were limited to four hits, have now lost 13 straight games at the “Trop.”