ST. PETERSBURG — The Tampa Bay Rays wasted no time refocusing after their first postseason clinch since 2023, beating the Houston Astros 3-2 before 24,642 at Tropicana Field on Saturday night to push their American League East lead to four games with 14 remaining.
Left-hander Ian Seymour struck out 10 over six innings but left with the score knotted at 2-2. The Rays broke through in the seventh when Liam Hicks led off with a double, Chandler Simpson legged out a potential double-play grounder, and pinch-hitter Nick Madrigal lifted a sacrifice fly to center field that scored pinch-runner Kenny Piper with the go-ahead run.
“I felt like I wasn’t trying to overthink the situation. I felt calm in there, and I know my job was to get the guy home from third,” Madrigal said. “I had a good scouting report going into it and just tried to slow the game down as best I could, and I wasn’t trying to do too much. I felt comfortable in the moment, and luckily it worked out for us.”
The victory, combined with the Yankees’ 12-2 loss to the Mets, gave Tampa Bay a cushion it intends to build on before a pivotal four-game set at Yankee Stadium from Sept. 22-24. Manager Kevin Cash told his players during their post-clinching celebration Friday night to savor the moment — but reminded them the job was far from finished. “We’ve got more meat on the bone, believe me,” Cash said.
Yandy Díaz, who spent part of the clubhouse celebration eating what he described as a “delicious” tomahawk steak he finished in about five minutes, said through interpreter Kevin Vera that the team had already moved on. “Yesterday was yesterday. We enjoyed it, but today is a new day and we’re moving forward now,” Díaz said. “It’s a matter of the next objective that we’ve had all year, and that’s winning the division.”
Seymour, who has spent much of the season as one of the AL’s most effective starters, echoed that sentiment. “It’s just a testament to sort of where we want to go,” Seymour said. “Obviously, celebrating a postseason berth is a joy, but that’s far from what this team wants to accomplish. So it’s good to set the tone after that today, for sure.”
Closer Bryan Baker recorded the final four outs to secure his Major League-leading 40th save, with Madrigal making another key defensive play in the eighth to keep a potential game-tying single by Yainer Diaz in the infield. Rookie Ty Johnson picked up two outs in the eighth in what amounted to an audition for a larger postseason role. “It’s pretty easy to feel good about everything yesterday. We celebrated it the right way, and I think everybody still showed up ready to work today,” Baker said. “I think now it’s more to have some more celebrations like we did last night. I think that’s the main goal.”