'Little by little,' Rays are getting their swagger back

NEW YORK -- The Rays won’t look back fondly on this July, which saw them fall out of first place in the American League East while enduring the franchise’s worst month since dropping the “Devil” from the team's name in 2008.

But they might remember these past few days as the time they snapped out of their midseason rut and got back to playing like themselves.

Energized in the afternoon by news of a Trade Deadline deal for intriguing starter Aaron Civale, the Rays clubbed four home runs to support a third straight seven-inning gem by starter Tyler Glasnow and beat the Yankees, 5-1, before a crowd of 43,613 at Yankee Stadium on Monday night.

“Good win. Big win,” manager Kevin Cash said. “Something to build off.”

If it’s starting to feel like the Rays might be back on their game, well, they don’t disagree. After a month-long search for any sort of traction, they may finally be finding their footing.

“Little by little, I think we're getting back to getting that confidence that we [had] in the beginning of the year,” third baseman Isaac Paredes -- who pulled his team-leading 21st homer to left in the fourth inning off Yankees starter Jhony Brito -- said via interpreter Manny Navarro.

The Rays finished July with an 8-16 record, but they also brought the month to a close by taking two of three from the Astros in Houston, then thoroughly outplaying the Yankees in the series opener. They also addressed their biggest need more than 24 hours ahead of Tuesday’s 6 p.m. ET Trade Deadline, which reinforced the front office’s belief in the potential of this roster.

Make no mistake: The Rays still believe in themselves plenty, too, never losing faith even as they ran into a wall the past few weeks and fell 1 1/2 games behind the Orioles in the division race.

“It's a 162-game season. Guys get tired. And with a group like this, we all kind of just got tired at the same time. But it's time to pick it up again,” outfielder Josh Lowe said. “I think we all realized that we're getting down to the wire here a little bit, and it's time to put it into gear and get to playing some good baseball.”

The Rays played their early 2023 brand of baseball on Monday. Brandon Lowe, Wander Franco, Paredes and Josh Lowe each homered off Brito, who took the place of scheduled starter Domingo Germán after Germán was scratched due to right armpit discomfort … but wound up pitching five scoreless innings in relief to finish the game.

It was the seventh time the Rays hit at least four homers in one game this season, but the first since April 30, back when Tampa Bay was on a record-setting pace.

“It was just only a matter of time. I think to do that consistently 162 games is, like, crazy,” Glasnow said. “There's always going to be times when we're up and down, but we've been swinging it way better lately.”

Brandon Lowe got things started in the first with a two-run shot to right-center off Brito. After studying his 2020-21 tape while on the injured list with lower back inflammation, Lowe has come back looking like his old self. The slugging second baseman has four homers in his past six games, and he’s hitting .286 with five homers and a team-leading .972 OPS since the All-Star break.

Franco stayed hot as well, bashing a Statcast-projected 391-foot solo shot to right field in the third. The star shortstop, who scuffled through most of July, has gone 6-for-15 with three extra-base hits over the past four games.

Paredes and Josh Lowe gave Glasnow even more breathing room in the fourth, ripping back-to-back two-out homers. Paredes’ solo shot gave him a career high on the year, surpassing his total of 20 from last season, and Lowe went deep for only the second time this month.

It was more support than Glasnow needed, as he continued one of the best stretches of his career by allowing just one run on three hits and two walks while striking out eight over seven innings. He relied equally on his slider and fastball against New York, forcing the Yankees to whiff on 17 of their 43 swings.

Over his past seven starts, Glasnow has put together a 2.08 ERA with 63 strikeouts and only nine walks in 43 1/3 innings. The right-hander said he has felt more rhythm and better timing as his starts have piled up. He has permitted three runs or fewer in 11 of his 12 starts this season, and one run or fewer in six.

“He’s super efficient,” Cash said, “and pretty dominant.”