ATLANTA — The Tampa Bay Rays moved within two wins of clinching their first postseason berth since 2023, routing the National League East-leading Braves 7-2 at Truist Park behind a sharp outing from Griffin Jax and a relentless bottom-of-the-order attack.
The victory, combined with losses by the Rangers and Blue Jays earlier in the day, dropped Tampa Bay’s magic number to two. The Rays can reduce that to one by completing a three-game sweep Thursday afternoon. If the Rangers lose to the Mariners later Thursday, Tampa Bay punches its ticket outright. A Rays win paired with another White Sox defeat Thursday night would also clinch a spot.
Jax, making his second start back from the injured list after missing a month with right elbow discomfort, allowed just one run on two hits and a walk over five innings, throwing first-pitch strikes to 13 of the 18 batters he faced. “He really did a nice job early on, and his stuff was tremendous throughout the course of the five innings,” manager Kevin Cash said. Jax said the outing felt nothing like his rocky return against the Mets, when he surrendered six runs while recording only eight outs. “Way better, way more composed, way more like myself,” Jax said. “Felt it from the beginning, just being able to attack the zone early and often.”
The Rays scored three runs in the second inning and three more in the fourth against Braves starter Reynaldo López, extending a stretch in which they have scored at least six runs in each of their past five games — 33 runs with 10 homers and 10 steals in that span. Victor Mesa Jr., who turned 25 Tuesday, launched his 11th home run of the season to open the scoring. Chandler Simpson and Richie Palacios reached base and advanced on a double-steal before former Brave Jorge Mateo drove both home with a two-out single. “That’s what we are for,” Mesa said. “When the top [hitters] don’t do the crazy stuff that they always do, we gotta put in a little bit more.”
The bottom of the order struck again in the fourth. Mesa singled, Simpson walked, and Cedric Mullins and Palacios delivered back-to-back RBI singles before Yandy Díaz capped the rally with a sacrifice fly. “The guys at the bottom, we grind, get hits, move guys over. We’ve been doing it all year, so it’s really nice to see that,” Palacios said. “Baseball purists definitely love it.”
Tampa Bay sits four games ahead of the Yankees with 17 games remaining. Nick Martinez, who will start the series finale Thursday, said he is blocking out the playoff math. “It’s not at the forefront of my mind. I’m really just taking it one pitch at a time,” Martinez said. “Continue to do my job of keeping us in a ballgame to win this ballgame and go from there. I don’t want to think too far ahead.”
Palacios echoed that focus. “That’s how we’ve been doing it all season,” he said. “We’re not looking at anything else but what we can do as a team, so we’re gonna do that tomorrow — and we’ll be excited for that.” The Rays return home Thursday night, potentially with a postseason celebration awaiting them.