In Rays-Orioles showdown, more than a division title banner at stake

MINNEAPOLIS — As the Rays ran off 13 straight wins to start the season and 29 in their first 36 games, they settled into first place in the American League East with a comfortable lead — as much as 6½ games as late as July 1 — and prepared to stay.

But in dropping seven straight to start July and 15 of 20 overall — including three of four to the Orioles at Tropicana Field — the Rays also lost their hold on the top spot.

Now they are talking big about taking it back.

“Everybody in this clubhouse is dead set on winning the division,” starting pitcher Zach Eflin said. “We don’t really have anything on our minds of what we want to do other than just win the division. That’s exactly where our heads are.”

They will have a chance to show they mean it this week, when they play a four-game series in Baltimore starting on Thursday. They know they can close what is a three-game gap after both teams lost Tuesday or create an even bigger deficit heading into the final two weeks of the season.

“Obviously, it’s a huge series no matter what, no matter which way you look at it, the top two teams in the East,” Rays second baseman Brandon Lowe said. “It has huge playoff implications.”

Those will play out in two stages:

• Initially, for the AL East title. Realistically, the Rays need to win at least two of the games to keep the division race tight. Anything more, and gear up for a dramatic, old-school pennant race down to the end.

“I think it’s obvious we all want to win the division,” infielder Isaac Paredes said via team interpreter Manny Navarro.

• Bigger picture, the outcome of the AL East race can significantly impact both teams’ chances to advance in the postseason tournament. That’s due to the format instituted last year and the benefits of being one of the top two division winners — most notably, a first-round bye — as opposed to the hurdles placed in front of wild-card teams.

“The sole focus is obviously on winning the division, because that means we’re playing the best baseball we can,” Lowe said. “If we’re focused on a wild-card series, I don’t want to say that puts us in a passive mindset essentially — falling back on the wild card versus wanting to win that division kind of thing — but it feels like it’s when you have your eyes on first place, that just kind of clears everything else out.”

Here’s a look at some of the reasons winning the division matters.

Time off

In adding a third wild-card team in each league last year, Major League Baseball also created a mechanism to keep the competition between the division leaders going. They did so by awarding byes to the top two division winners and homefield advantage in the World Series to the remaining team with the best record.

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This year, that means the AL East and West winners will get the benefit — or supposed benefit — of five days off.

The regular season ends on Sunday, Oct. 1. The three AL wild cards and No. 3 division winner will play best-of-three wild-card series starting on Tuesday, Oct. 3. Games will take place on three straight days, all at the higher-seeded team’s site.

The top two division winners will watch and wait to see who they play, knowing they will open best-of-five Division Series play at home on Saturday, Oct. 7.

That allows time for rest, injured players to recover and, probably most importantly, teams to set up their pitching rotations.

“To have your guys be fully rested and not be worried that your rotation is set up the right way, I think that’s the biggest thing,” Lowe said. “To be able to go out there and roll out your Nos. 1-2-3 (starters).”

However, there also can be a case made to keep riding the momentum, especially from a final-week push to make the playoffs.

“You can make an argument either way,” starter Zack Littell said. “I think it definitely has a little bit of an effect on you, especially if you’re playing really well and then you just kind of have to sit for four-five days.”

Eflin was on the Phillies team that got on a late roll last year, clinching the final wild-card spot on the third-to-last day of the season, then upsetting teams all the way to the World Series.

He’d rather have the rest.

“I think the benefit of the off days is to kind of recover, come back to reality a little bit, get some family time in and then go back to work,” he said.

In last year’s first run of the new format, the top two NL division winners, the Braves and Dodgers, came off their bye weeks and got beat. The top two AL teams, the Astros and Yankees, moved on.

Homefield

In addition to skipping the first round, the top two division winners also get homefield advantage in the best-of-five Division Series, hosting Games 1, 2 and 5.

That’s big for the Rays, who have the best home record (50-25, .667) in the majors.

“Anytime we’re playing at the Trop, we play well,” Eflin said. “We love our fans, we love playing in that atmosphere. It’s huge, especially in the postseason, to have homefield advantage, play somewhere where you’re comfortable and not in that hostile environment. So we’re doing everything we can to do that.”

Matchups

With the six-team AL playoff field most likely to come from the group of Rays, Orioles, Blue Jays, Twins, Astros, Rangers and Mariners, any potential matchup could be tough. So, avoiding one round is a big deal.

If the Rays fall short in the AL East and end up as the top wild card, they would host the second wild card, which as of now looks to be either the Blue Jays (against whom they are 4-3 with six games left), Mariners (4-3) or Rangers (2-4).

“There’s no easy route to a Division Series,” Lowe said. “I think winning your division is probably your easiest route.”

Plus, the winner of the series between the top two wild cards has to play the top division champ, as there is no reseeding.

“We’re just focused to win the division,” designated hitter Harold Ramirez said. “It’s important for us.”

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