Best in the AL, who?: Rays 14, Tigers 8

A hit parade for Mead, Diaz, and Thaiss!

Happy Friday, friends! The Rays were playing host to the Tigers, the unexpected AL win leaders (current MLB win leaders, actually, at 48). The Tigers were leaning on Jack Flaherty as their starter, while the Rays were turning to Shane Baz. Though rain delayed the start of the game (something we never had to say in the past), things got underway about an hour late.

The first started a little shaky with a one-out walk to Gleyber Torres, then a two-out single to Riley Greene. Torres was able to advance to third, and Greene to second thanks to a fielding error by Kameron Misner. The Tigers weren’t able to bring any runs home, though. The Rays wasted no time scoring their first run, though, as the home half opened with a solo home run by Yandy Diaz.

The Rays kept the pressure on from there. Jake Mangum singled, followed by a Jonathan Aranda walk. A Curtis Mead single then brought Mangum home.

With two outs, Matt Thaiss doubled, bringing two more runs across. So at the end of the first inning the Rays had a healthy four-run lead.

Even the post-storm sky was celebrating.

The Tigers went 1-2-3 in the top of the second. After the first out of the home half, Yandy Diaz took a rough hit-by-pitch that almost had him heading automatically for the dugout, but he took his time and shook it off before staying in the game. Two outs later he was able to go put some ice on it.

In the top of the third things got a bit rocky for Baz. Trey Sweeney got a leadoff single, then with one out, Torres singled as well. With two outs, Riley Greene came to the plate and hit a three-run homer. If those three runs seemed alarming, don’t worry, because the Rays had more up their sleeves. Curtis Mead got a one-out singled, then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Josh Lowe and Matt Thaiss got back-to-back walks. Then a Taylor Walls double cleared the bases, bringing in three runs.

They had chased the Tigers’ starter from the game early—not great for a team who played a doubleheader the previous night—and reliever Matt Gage replaced Flaherty. The Rays weren’t letting up though. A Misner single scored Walls.

Brandon Lowe singled, but the Rays would have to settle for four. The score was 8-3 at the end of the third.

The Tigers went 1-2-3 at the top of the fourth. While the Rays did get a baserunner in the fourth with a one-out single by Mead, they weren’t able to score any additional runs.

With two outs in the top of the fifth, Gleyber Torres walked, but Baz was able to get around the baserunner and get the final out to end the inning. Chase Lee was next out of the Tigers’ bullpen. In the home half, with two outs, Yandy Diaz decided to prove he was feeling fine after that hit-by-pitch and hit his second solo home run of the night.

In the top of the sixth, Baz was back out despite nearing 100 pitches, and gave up a leadoff walk to Riley Greene. Perhaps bringing Baz in was not the ideal move, as he gave up a one-out walk to Dillon Dingler to put two runners on before he was pulled for Forrest Whitley. Whitley then gave up a double to Parker Meadows, to score Greene. And Javier Baez hit a sac fly to score Dingler, bringing the score to 5-9. Carlos Hernández was next out of the Tigers’ bullpen. The Rays had two outs, but then they started to fight back. Mead walked, and then a Josh Lowe double brought him home.

Thaiss then singled to score Lowe.

Walls then singled, and both he and Thaiss advanced a bag thanks to a wild pitch, but the Rays would have to settle for two, but the score at the end of six was 11-5.

In the seventh the Tigers went 1-2-3. Brenan Hanifee was the new Tigers reliever, and Yandy Diaz continued to have himself a hot night with a leadoff single. However, Brandon Lowe then hit into a double play to eliminate the baserunner. The Rays weren’t able to get anyone else on base in the inning.

Eric Orze was in out of the pen. He gave up a solo home run to Riley Greene to start things off in the eighth. Three outs followed to limit the damage, though. In the home half, Aranda singled to start the inning, then Mead continued to have one heck of a night with another walk. A force out off the bat of Josh Lowe eliminated Mead but left two runners on. Thaiss continued to have a great night as well, with a single to score two runs thanks to a fielding error by Kerry Carpenter. Thaiss ended up on third.

Kameron Misner then singled to score Thaiss, and the score at the end of the eighth was 14-6.

The trouble with the Tigers is that, much like the 2025 Rays, they keep fighting until the last out. Javier Baez singled to start the ninth, then one out later Colt Keith hit a home run to score two. That was it for the comeback effort, though, and the Tigers took the L.

Final: Rays 14, Tigers 8