The Tampa Bay Rays have become the first team to reach 50 wins in the 2021 Major League Baseball season. With a record of 50-22, the Rays have reached this milestone in the fewest games in franchise history. According to ESPN Stats & Information research, the Rays’ achievement is tied for the second-fastest any team has reached 50 wins in the past 20 seasons.
On Thursday, Manuel Margot and Luke Raley hit home runs to help the Rays beat the Oakland Athletics 4-3. Rays rookie top prospect Taj Bradley struck out 11 batters, including the first six A’s batters in order, before surrendering Seth Brown’s tying two-run single in the fifth. Despite the win, Rays manager Kevin Cash expressed his eagerness to move on from the game and continue the season.
Oakland Athletics Snap Season-Best Seven-Game Winning Streak
For the Oakland Athletics, splitting a four-game series against the best team in baseball spells success. Paul Blackburn struck out a career-high nine batters, but the A’s had their season-best seven-game winning streak snapped a night earlier. Austin Pruitt took the loss for the Athletics.
In the seventh inning, the A’s loaded the bases against former Oakland pitcher Jake Diekman. However, a brilliant defensive play prevented them from scoring. Second baseman Taylor Walls fielded a hard grounder from Seth Brown, with an exit velocity of 107.9 mph, and fired home to stop a run. Catcher Francisco Mejia then threw to first for the inning-ending double play.
Despite the loss, A’s manager Mark Kotsay expressed satisfaction with the team’s progress in the first half of the season. “Coming back home after a really good road trip and taking the first two from them I feel like it kind of [opened] some people’s eyes in here a little bit,” Blackburn said, “we’re a good team.”
The Rays won the season series for the second straight year, going 5-2 after a three-game sweep in Tampa from April 5 to 7 in which they outscored the A’s 31-5 with a pair of 11-0 victories.
Right-hander Pete Fairbanks returned from the 15-day injured list with inflammation in his left hip and finished for his sixth save. However, he is nursing a black eye on the right side of his face after hitting the backboard while playing basketball in his family’s pool with his 3-year-old son Isak. Fairbanks joked that the incident taught his son an early lesson in life: “When you’re in the paint, you cannot be caught unaware underneath the basket.”
The Tampa Bay Rays have become the first team to reach 50 wins in the 2021 MLB season. With a record of 50-22, the Rays have reached this milestone in the fewest games in franchise history. Despite the loss, the Oakland Athletics are celebrating their progress in the first half of the season.
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