Inside the Rays' automatic bullpen

This story was excerpted from Adam Berry’s Rays Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

BALTIMORE -- How important is the Rays’ four-game series against the Orioles? You could see the answer during the fifth inning in the visitors’ bullpen at Camden Yards on Thursday night.

As Aaron Civale worked his way in and out of a bases-loaded jam, ultimately permitting just one run in his final inning, lefty setup man Colin Poche started warming up in the bullpen. Too early? Not this late in the season.

The Rays are nearing the end of a stretch of 17 consecutive games without a day off, and they’ve leaned on their top relievers plenty during that time. But these are crucial games in their pursuit of a fifth American League East championship, and their bullpen arms are about as automatic as they’ve been all year.

“They know what's at stake right now,” manager Kevin Cash said after a series-opening 4-3 win over the Orioles. “They're ready to go.”

They looked that way Thursday night. Poche wound up striking out two of the three hitters he faced in a perfect sixth inning. Shawn Armstrong lowered his ERA to 0.77 in a clean seventh. Robert Stephenson continued his remarkable run by retiring all three hitters he faced in the eighth. Then Pete Fairbanks mowed through the heart of Baltimore’s lineup in the ninth.

Fairbanks struck out Gunnar Henderson on a 99.2 mph fastball above the zone. He punched out Anthony Santander with high, 100.1 mph heat. He only needed three more pitches to strike out Ryan O’Hearn and secure his 24th save: 100.3, 100.1 and 100.2 mph.

“They're fantastic. I mean, it's really been that way all year long,” said Luke Raley, who hit the decisive homer in the series opener. “It's an amazing group of arms down there. Anyone that comes in the game, we have a lot of confidence that we're not going to give up runs.”

For good reason.

After those four perfect frames, the Rays' bullpen has not allowed an earned run in its last 34 innings dating back to the ninth on Sept. 4. It’s the second-longest such streak in franchise history, behind only a 37 2/3-inning stretch spanning Sept. 22, 2010 through April 1, 2011, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Consider: Tampa Bay’s relievers have pitched 17 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings after putting together a 19-inning scoreless streak from Aug. 25-Sept. 2. How good has the bullpen been this month? They’re working on an MLB-best 1.13 ERA with only 27 hits and 10 walks allowed as they’ve racked up 63 strikeouts in 47 2/3 innings.

“It's so comforting as a starting pitcher here knowing what the offense can do and also what the bullpen can do behind you,” Civale said. “It's really easy to play aggressive baseball when you do that.”

Their success extends beyond the four relievers who took the mound after Civale in the series opener, although they have certainly taken on most of the high-leverage work since Jason Adam went down with an injury.

Veteran lefty Jake Diekman has pitched 11 consecutive scoreless innings, giving him a 2.50 ERA and 1.21 WHIP with the Rays after the White Sox released him. And Rule 5 rookie Kevin Kelly hasn’t missed a beat since returning from a brief stint on the injured list, allowing only two hits over five run-free outings.

“They roll out a bunch of different arms with different arm angles, so it’s not easy, especially seeing them for the first time,” Henderson said.

They’ve made life difficult for just about everyone the last few months. After remaking their relief corps on the fly, the Rays have put together the American League’s best bullpen ERA since the start of June. Overall, the Rays are 64-7 this season when leading after six innings and 68-3 when leading after seven. That’s as much a testament to the bullpen’s reliability as anything else.

“There's a lot of good talent down there, and I think that kind of speaks for itself. When you have arms like that that attack the strike zone, it sets you up to be able to do what you want when you want to do it,” said Fairbanks, who’s held opponents to a .153 average while striking out 61 in 41 1/3 innings this year. “When you're able to do that on the mound is when you typically see a fair amount of success.”