To say the Tampa Bay Rays have had a down year would be an understatement. Tampa Bay is currently the worst team in baseball with a 26-43 record and as the half way mark of the season approaches, there isn’t much to give fans hope things are going to turn around.
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But Rays fans did get some good news for once as with today’s victory over the Houston Astros, Tampa Bay earned their first series win since back in Boston all way back in May, 23-25.
Could this series victory be the first in a turnaround? Unlikely, the Astros aren’t that much better off than the Rays and it’s going to take a lot more than one series victory against a bad team to turn around a dreadful start to a season.
The Rays have had a huge fall off since last season when they won 92 games and made the playoffs as a Wild Card team. After defeating a red hot Cleveland Indians team in a 1 game playoff, it was off to Boston. They would eventually lose to the future World Series champs but the team seemed to be primed and ready to be back just as strong next season.
Of course, that’s not how it went. The team got off to a slow start but many dismissed it as another slow start similar to the season before. Except, last year Matt Moore wasn’t out for the season because of surgery and the team could actually hit. This season, the pitchers have struggled outside of ace, David Price, and hitting is a god send.
It’s been a struggle for the Rays and at this point they’re looking for anything positive, even if it’s as minuscule as winning a series against the Astros.