The Cleveland Indians entered Friday night riding an American League record 22-game winning streak.
So, Tampa Bay Rays … what gives?
How about six? A six-game, late-season run. Give fans one last reason to show up or tune in.
That may still only get the Rays to within a couple games of the second and final American League wild card berth. They find themselves stuck behind six other clubs after their second-half stall out.
But one reason why Tampa Bay finds itself in this position and three games under .500 is because the team hasn’t been able to string together wins all season. Three four-game winning streaks represent the high-water mark.
One step forward followed by one step back, over and over again. End result: being in the same place. Right around .500.
But too much complaining or moping about how the Rays got to 72-75 is a waste of time, for the team and fans.
Here are a couple other things Tampa Bay and manager Kevin Cash cannot control, like how many games are left in the season, who they play against, and who the other teams in the wild card race play against.
There are seven teams fighting for the final American League position. The Minnesota Twins, entering Friday on a three-game winning streak, are three games ahead of the Los Angeles Angels. The Seattle Mariners are 3 1/2 back, followed by the Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals at five back and the Baltimore Orioles and Rays at 5 1/2 back.
Of those seven teams, the Rays remaining schedule is the most difficult in terms of combined opponent winning percentage. Tampa Bay plays three against the Boston Red Sox, two against the Chicago Cubs, six against the Orioles and three against the New York Yankees. If the season ended right now, all but Baltimore would be in the postseason. Those four teams’ combined winning percentage is .539.
The Mariners are next at .532 (Houston Astros, Rangers, Indians, Oakland Athletics, Angels), followed by the Angels at .525 (Rangers, Indians, Astros, Chicago White Sox, Mariners), the Orioles at .517 (Yankees, Red Sox, Rays, Pittsburgh Pirates), the Rangers at .513 (Angels, Mariners, Athletics, Astros), the Twins (Toronto Blue Jays, Yankees, Detroit Tigers, Indians) and the Royals (Indians, Blue Jays, White Sox, Yankees, Tigers, Arizona Diamondbacks).
Even though the Royals face opponents with the lowest combined winning percentage, they’re the only other team with three current playoff teams left on the schedule. The difference, however, is that one of those clubs is the Yankees and they’ll play only once to make up a May 25 rainout.
Eric Horchy is a staff writer with OutsidePitchMLB.com. You can follow and interact with him on Twitter: @EricHorchy
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