Baseball’s hottest club is Tampa Bay
Devers sinks old team. Yankees explode. Travelers shakeup. Game 7 tonight
Good morning, all!
Don’t look now, but as we approach the midway point of the MLB season, the hottest team is the Tampa Bay Rays. If ever there was a case study of fortitude, the Rays are it. Thrown out of their own ballpark because of Hurricane Milton, they have been forced to play their home games at the Yankees spring training site, George M. Steinbrenner Field. Then news broke last week that owner Stu Sternberg has signed a Letter of Intent to sell the club. That has not stopped the Rays, as they have sliced a once-commanding lead by the first place Yankees to 1 1/2 games.
On Saturday - for the second straight game - the Rays dismantled the club with MLB’s best record, the Detroit Tigers, 8-3. Tampa Bay is 22-8 over its last 30 games. Since May 9 the Rays have MLB’s best record at 27-13. Also since that date, they are first in runs, first in steals, third in ERA and third in WHIP.
If those numbers don’t make Kevin Cash a candidate for manager of the year, I don’t know what does. The Rays have an excellent combination of power, speed and solid pitching. As we enter the summer portion of the summer game, they should be a fun team to watch and exhibit A why you do not need to be big spenders in order to be big winners.
Here are some other DAN ON SPORTS top stories for Sunday, June 22, 2025:
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NBA Finals Game 7 tonight. 20th deciding game in league history. Indiana at OKC
Devers’s revenge. After striking out against Aroldis Chapman on Friday night to end the game, Devers slugs two-run HR to lift Giants over ex-team Red Sox, 3-2
Dormant Yankees bats awaken. Schmidt pulled after seven no-hit innings. Bombers slug four HRs. Ex-Yankee Sanchez breaks up no-no
Mets unleash home run barrage to snap 7-game losing streak, tie Phils for first
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DAN