Tampa Bay Rays add to list of unbelievable stats with latest victory
The Tampa Bay Rays did it again.
With their 11-0 win over the Oakland A's on Sunday afternoon they improved to a perfect 9-0 on the season. And they continue to do things that teams have not done in decades.
In this case, more than a century.
With their 11-run win on Sunday, the Rays improved their run differential to plus-57 for the season. That is 35 runs better than any other team in baseball through the first week-and-a-half of the campaign.
As ESPN's Jeff Passan points out, this is the first time since 1884 that a team has had a run differential of more than the 50 through their first nine games. Just for perspective, he notes that the 1884 season the first year pitchers were allowed to throw overhand and the pitchers mound was only 50 feet from home plate.
So it was basically a completely different sport back then.
The Rays have won every game by at least four runs and eight of their games by at least five runs.
A softer schedule has helped, but even that does not fully explain the level of dominance the Rays have displayed this spring. Even bad Major League teams will win games and beat good teams. They will certainly be consistently competitive. The Rays, however, have made a mockery of that idea and are completely crushing everything in their path.
It is one of the best starts we have ever seen for a Major League team. It is also setting an incredibly high bar and equally high expectations for what the Rays might accomplish over the long season remainder.
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