2013 Tampa Bay Rays

2013 Tampa Bay Rays / Franchise: Tampa Bay Rays / BR Team Page[edit]

Record: 92-71, Finished 2nd in AL Eastern Division (2013 AL)

Clinched Wild Card: September 30, 2013, At Texas Rangers

Coaches: Stan Boroski, Tom Foley, George Hendrick, Jim Hickey, Dave Martinez, Jamie Nelson, Derek Shelton and Don Zimmer

Ballpark: Tropicana Field

History, Comments, Contributions[edit]

On June 24th, the 2013 Tampa Bay Rays hit three consecutive homers off Esmil Rogers of the Toronto Blue Jays, when James Loney, Wil Myers and Sam Fuld all hit solo shots in the 2nd inning. It was only the second time in team history that they had managed the feat - the first was on June 9, 2008, when Evan Longoria, Willy Aybar and Dioner Navarro had turned the trick, and the first time they had done so at Tropicana Field. The three homers were key to a 4-1 victory that snapped the Blue Jays' 11-game winning streak. Also notable was the fact that Myers' long ball came in his first career at-bat at home, although he had hit his first career homer - a grand slam - two days earlier at New Yankee Stadium.

The Rays finished the first half of the season red hot, going 14-2 over their last 16 games to bring them within 2 1/2 games of the AL East-leading Boston Red Sox with a record of 55-41. On the last day before the All-Star break, Chris Archer pitched his first career shutout, a 5-0 win over the Houston Astros. The Rays reached first place on July 26th when they defeated the New York Yankees, 10-6, then extended their lead the next day when Archer pitched his second shutout in three starts, defeating the Yankees, 1-0 on a two-hitter. However they only managed to hang on to first for a few days, and were back in second place behind Boston before the end of the month. They only went 11-15 during August and remained in second as a result, with both the Yankees and Baltinmore Orioles now breathing down their necks. Worst, when they took an 11-2 pounding against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on September 2nd, it was their 5th consecutive loss, putting them 5 1/2 games behind Boston and only 2 ahead of Baltimore and 2 1/2 of New York for the second wild card slot, with the Cleveland Indians also closing in at 3 1/2 games back.