Here are 10 fun Rays games to watch right now
While the 2020 season is on hold, fans still have plenty of opportunities to satisfy their baseball cravings.
Every single MLB game from the past two seasons is available, for free, on MLB.TV. That equates to more than 4,800 games, including regular season and postseason, from 2018 and ‘19.
This dive into the archives is free to all users, on any supported device, with zero blackout restrictions. Simply visit MLB.TV for details or download the MLB App on your favorite device.
There is no shortage of viewing options, whether you prefer to relive the ups and downs of your favorite team’s season or discover something you might have missed the first time around. There are fantastic individual performances, dramatic October classics, and much more. There's also a large collection of classic games available on YouTube.
To help fans find a place to start amid those two seasons worth of baseball, we’ve curated the top 10 games for each of the 30 teams. Here is a recommended viewing guide for the Rays.
1. Sept. 27, 2019: Rays clinch postseason berth vs. Blue Jays
If you want to relive the moment when the Rays earned their way back to the postseason, this is the one for you. Tommy Pham provided the early home run, and then it was Emilio Pagán who recorded the final three outs in a 6-2 win over the Blue Jays. Then it was time to pop champagne in the visiting clubhouse.
2. July 15, 2019: d’Arnaud makes history
Travis d'Arnaud helped stabilize the catcher position for the Rays, and he also helped Tampa Bay get some much-needed wins against New York. In this game, d’Arnaud showed off his power, hitting three home runs, including a go-ahead, ninth-inning shot off Aroldis Chapman for a 5-4 victory. d’Arnaud became the first catcher to homer three times in a game against the Yankees.
3. Sept. 21, 2019: Lowe over the short porch in left
With playoff positioning on the line, Nate Lowe came through in a huge way for the Rays. Lowe, who was a September callup, provided one of the biggest swings of the season, hitting a two-run, walk-off home run to beat the Red Sox, 5-4, in 11 innings. The homer went right over the left-field porch, creating some flashbacks of Evan Longoria’s dramatic blast in Game 162 of the 2011 season.
4. Sept. 18, 2019: L.A. nights
During a playoff race, every win is crucial. But those come-from-behind wins against other contenders definitely boosts a team's confidence. That’s exactly what happened in Los Angeles, as the Rays beat the Dodgers, 8-7, in an extra-inning thriller. Austin Meadows had the big homer in the 11th, while Pham played one of his best games as a Ray, tallying five hits.
5. Sept. 23, 2018: Snell breaks record
Blake Snell, who went on to win the AL Cy Young Award, helped his cause when he won his 21st game of the year, breaking David Price’s franchise record. Snell was terrific all season long, and he capped it off by striking out 11 Blue Jays hitters in his final start, a 5-2 victory.
6. June 26, 2018: Rays beat Scherzer, then benches clear
Beating Max Scherzer is hard enough, but beating him 1-0 seems nearly impossible. That’s what the Rays did here, powered by the pitching staff in limiting the Nationals offense to just three hits. To make things even more interesting, Rays closer Sergio Romo and Nats outfielder Michael A. Taylor got into it after Taylor struck out to end the game, prompting the benches to clear.
7. July 14, 2019: Almost historic
There have been many opinions regarding the usage of the "opener," but it’s hard to deny that the Rays have benefited from it. This particular game ended up being a poster child for the strategy, as Ryne Stanek and Ryan Yarbrough took a combined perfect game into the ninth inning in a 4-1 win over the Orioles.
8. April 12, 2019: Upper-deck views
Brandon Lowe and Meadows have such a close friendship that they even hit home runs to the same spot. But what’s really impressive in this 11-7 win over the Blue Jays, is that spot was the upper deck at Rogers Centre.
9. July 6, 2019: d’Arnaud beats the Yankees … again
In his half-season with the Rays, it’s hard to find a player who's had more clutch hits than d’Arnaud. That was the case again here, as he saved the Rays from another heartbreaking loss to the Yankees with a tiebreaking, walk-off home run in the ninth for a 4-3 win.
10. June 25, 2018: Dominant Snell
One of Snell’s signature wins during his Cy Young season was a dominant performance against the Nats. Snell took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, striking out 10 in the 11-0 victory. The possibility of a no-hitter was substantially larger when Snell stepped on the mound that season, and this was the closest he got.
And here are some other games from around the league you might like:
Aug. 17, 2019: Brewers 15, Nationals 14
Christian Yelich homered -- No. 40 -- as part of a three-homer, four-run ninth inning for a 12-11 Brewers lead, only to see the Nationals come back to tie it up against Josh Hader. Yelich homered again in the 13th for a 13-12 lead, only to see the Nats come back again. Finally, in the 14th, the Brewers scored twice and this time held off another Nats surge.
June 27, 2019: Dodgers 12, Rockies 8
The Dodgers overcame a shaky Coors Field start from Walker Buehler (seven runs) with a six-homer onslaught -- two by Max Muncy -- for their 12th consecutive win over Colorado.
July 25, 2019: Orioles 10, Angels 8
The Orioles and Angels had been engaged in a marathon, 6-hour, 16-inning, back-and-forth affair when things went from simply weird to historic. That's because of who closed the game -- outfielder Stevie Wilkerson, who recorded a 1-2-3 bottom of the 16th throwing nothing but mid-50 mph floaters to record the first save by a position player in MLB history.
July 12, 2019: Rangers 9, Astros 8
The Rangers scored five runs in the last three innings to erase the Astros' 8-4 lead. The Rangers hit five home runs in this game, including three off Astros starter Gerrit Cole.
June 23, 2019: Pirates 11, Padres 10
Former manager Clint Hurdle called this “one of the best wins that I’ve watched in nine years here,” and it was a wild one. Down three in the ninth against a closer who hadn’t blown a save all season, the Pirates rallied to force extra innings. Down three again in the 11th, they battled back -- and then all of a sudden rookie shortstop Kevin Newman was at the plate, working a walk-off walk to cap the Bucs’ fourth straight win.