Tampa Bay Rays Limp Home Off Road Trip

For the Tampa Bay Rays, they need to get really serious about making some inroads on an MLB postseason spot. It's come to put-up-or-shut-up time as the Rays will open a three-game series against the New York Yankees on Tuesday night.

The Rays managed to put together a .500 road trip. While that might be worth a passing mark for some teams, Tampa Bay needed to pocket a couple of more wins. The road trip was quite long and might have taken some steam out of the bats.

Rays manager Kevin Cash took note of the team's efforts against the Los Angeles Angels, Seattle Mariners, Athletics, and San Francisco Giants. "I’m glad we were able to get to .500," Cash said after Sunday's 7-1 defeat to the Giants, MLB.com reported. “I think we would all agree that we needed to do better and get more wins. We’re ready to go home.”

The 12-game West Coast tour started out with Tampa Bay just five games out of the final American League Wild Card spot. When they get back to George M. Steinbrenner Field on Tuesday, they will sit 5.5 games out.

A couple of Rays players offered their perspectives on the team's current sitaution.

"At the end of the day, it’s not a negative balance," designated hitter Yandy Díaz said. "We were able to win a couple of series and I think the guys are getting a little more comfortable, and I think good things are coming ahead." As for starting pitcher Ryan Pepiot, he said, "Seven and five on a road trip sounds a lot better than 6-6."

The road to the AL postseason will not be easy for Tampa Bay at all. They will play 22 of their final 37 games against the New York Yankees, Cleveland Guardians, Mariners, Toronto Blue Jays, and Boston Red Sox. Guess what? All of them are in front of the Rays in the AL playoff race right now.

"I think it’s one of the most important series we have left," Díaz said about squaring off with the Yankees. "We always play good baseball against them. Hopefully this time we’ll be the same and we will be able to get two wins."