The Tampa Bay Rays have moved into the top five of MLB standings, currently holding a 22-12 record. Their success is attributed to a strong pitching staff, ranking sixth in team ERA at 3.67.
Rays move into top five driven by an absolutely dominant pitching staff originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Tampa Bay Rays are never a team you can fully count out, and that seems to be the case again this year. They have come out and put their right foot forward this season.
Going into Tuesday's matchups, they sit in second place in the AL East with their 22-12 record. They are just 1.5 games behind the New York Yankees, who sit atop the division.
The offense has been big this year, holding a team batting average of .253, which ranks them sixth across MLB. On the pitching side, the team also ranks sixth with its team ERA of 3.67.
MORE:ESPN bestows Rays with a high letter grade for performance in April
The pitching staff had to step up last week as the offense struggled to get much of anything going. And that is exactly what the staff did, helping the club win their series 2-1 against the Cleveland Guardians and a clean 3-0 sweep of the .
The Tampa Bay Rays currently have a record of 22-12.
The Rays' pitching staff ranks sixth in MLB with a team ERA of 3.67.
The New York Yankees are currently leading the AL East division, sitting 1.5 games ahead of the Rays.
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This has helped them jump up in the latest power rankings. Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller moves them from No. 7 to No. 4 this week.
"Who needs offense when your pitching staff is lights out? The Rays averaged 2.5 runs per game [last] week, but they're now 9-1 in their last 10 games, allowing two runs or fewer in each of the victories. Steven Matz gave them a pair of quality starts this week, while the bullpen allowed just one earned run in 20.1 innings of work."
Matz gave the team a pair of quality starts, and the bullpen, even after losing Pete Fairbanks over the offseason, has been nails. They'll look to keep up this momentum in their series against the Toronto Blue Jays and then the Boston Red Sox over the weekend in two divisional series.