John Romano: The world is starting to figure out what the Rays do best: They win.

John Romano, Tampa Bay Times on Jul 24, 2026

Published in Baseball

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Rays have been atop the AL East — or at the very least tied for the lead — for more than two months.

And yet the oddsmakers in Vegas still favor the Yankees.

With 59 games remaining in the regular season, the Rays currently have the best record in the American League.

And yet the computer models at FanGraphs still favor the Yankees.

Even as the calendar gets closer to August, the Rays apparently have some convincing to do around America’s ballparks. Their lineup is a little light on power, their rotation may need supplementing and their name recognition is not elite.

But on nights like this, it’s easy to imagine full houses and big ovations in October.

The Rays played their brand of complementary baseball to near-perfection in an 11-3 win against Cleveland in front of an announced crowd of 19,099 at Tropicana Field on Friday evening.

Shane McClanahan turned in a strong five-inning effort, the Rays got seven hits and eight RBIs from their 7-8-9 hitters and Chandler Simpson and Ben Williamson each made diving catches that kept runs off the scoreboard. With the Yankees winning 1-0 in Philadelphia, the Rays maintained their two-game lead in the East.

McClanahan, making only his fourth start in the past month to keep his workload manageable, zipped through the Guardians lineup with relative ease. Other than a pair of doubles in the fourth inning, the left-hander kept Cleveland hitters in check.

The Rays are now 42-4 when scoring three runs or more for McClanahan in his career.

On this night, he got all the scoring he needed by the second inning, when Ryan Vilade hit a liner that just barely cleared the wall in left-center for a two-run homer. Later, when Vilade was replaced at second base for defensive purposes, Richie Palacios hit a three-run homer in that spot in the order.

The Rays also got a double and RBI forceout from Williamson in the No. 8 hole and a career-high-matching four hits and two RBIs from catcher Nick Fortes at No. 9.

Throw in a bunt single by Simpson and Chris Roycroft picking up his first career save, and there’s not much else anyone could ask for.