Pictured above: St. Petersburg native and Rays star Brett Phillips is met at home plate by his team after hitting a clutch walk-off homerun in the 10th inning.
Courtesy of the Tampa Bay Rays
By Max Steele
Continuing their historic regular season, the Tampa Bay Rays were the first team in the American League (AL) to clinch a spot in the 2021 MLB playoffs after a 1-7 divisional win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Sept. 22. Three days later, the team earned itself the title of AL East champions with a 3-7 win over the Miami Marlins at Tropicana Field.
The Rays will enter the postseason with a chip on their shoulder this year, following a tough 2020 World Series loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The team looks to right its wrongs this time around and isn’t going to let anything stand in its way.
This season marks the Rays’ third consecutive trip to the postseason, breaking a franchise record. The hometown team currently leads both its division and the American League with a record of 97 wins, 59 losses.
Despite the impressive lead, the Rays remain focused and look to finish the regular season by clinching the No. 1 seed spot in the playoffs.
In fact, some reports claim the team barely celebrated post-game after its win against the Blue Jays, as many of the players remained locked in with their eyes set on a bigger prize.
Last week’s accomplishment was seemingly only a mere speedbump on the team’s intended road to glory.
According to the Rays social media pages, head coach Kevin Cash had something to say after the team’s postseason clinching win.
“We’ve got games left and something to play for,” Cash said.
It’s safe to assume the Rays aren’t letting their foot off the gas pedal anytime soon.
To finish off the regular season, the Rays will travel to Houston to face off against the playoff-bound Astros, and then New York to meet their long-time divisional rival, the Yankees.
Defeating these teams will be no easy achievement, as the Astros are only a few games behind the Rays and look to steal the No. 1 AL seed and the Yankees will be giving it all they got as they have a chance to win one of the two AL wild card spots.
Tampa Bay’s team also has the chance to break its single season win record, which was previously accomplished in 2008 when the Rays recorded 97 wins and went to the World Series for the first time in franchise history.
With only six games left, the 2021 Rays team has the opportunity to rewrite the record books and could even accomplish 100 wins in a single season.
As the regular season comes to an end and with the playoffs around the corner, the Rays need all the support they can get. Games are televised on local sports networks and tickets are available for purchase on MLB.com.
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Max Steele is a junior digital communication and multimedia journalism major at USF St. Petersburg.
