ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) – The Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Orioles 4-2 Friday night, which gave them their 40th win of the season. They are the first team in Major League Baseball to reach that milestone this season.
Tampa Bay remains atop the American League standings at (40-24) and they are tied atop all of MLB with the San Francisco Giants (39-23) for the best record in baseball.
It may be a milestone the fans and media pay attention to, but it was news to the team.
“I could not have even told you how many wins we had,” said Rays infielder Brandon Lowe when asked about being the first to 40. “I can’t tell you how many games we’ve played. All that stuff. The days kind of run together, especially when you’re this far in. The only thing you’re really focused on is coming in and taking care of business that day and approaching things like you’re 0-0 on the season. Nothing matters but that game.”
They probably also don’t know that they are 21-5 since May 13. Or that they’ve won 6 series in that stretch and swept 4 of those. What they do know, is how they continue to execute at a high level. And with that, they’re not necessarily surprised at the result in their record.
“It’s definitely one of those things that it’s not shocking to see 40 wins up there,” Lowe continued. “We understand how well we’ve been playing the past month or two and it’s pretty cool to be the first team to win 40 for sure.”
“Any time you’re the first in anything it sounds good,” said Rays manager Kevin Cash. “I didn’t know that but hopefully we’re the first to 41 too.”
The Rays will have their first chance to get to 41 Saturday afternoon when they continue their series with the Orioles. Game 2 of the 3-game series with Baltimore starts at 4:10 p.m. at Tropicana Field.