Sunday, 4 a.m.

Sometimes, the key to a team's improvement are the additions it makes.

Take the Tampa Bay Rays, who spent their off-season bringing in help in the form of Nick Martinez and Steven Matz, among others.

And sometimes, the key is know who to move on from. The Rays have had some mixed results there, too. Taj Bradley is having a solid season. So is Brandon Lowe.

But how about the other former "mainstays?"

Did you see where the Angels designated Josh Lowe to the minors Saturday. Lowe was hitting all of .184 with five homers.

It continued a downhill slide from Lowe for years. He hit .292 in 2023. That slipped to .241 the next year and .220 the next season. Perhaps Lowe will rebound someday, but can you blame the Rays for not waiting?

How about Pete Fairbanks, the former closer. The Rays were criticized for not paying more to keep Fairbanks. But Faitbanks is just 1-2 with an 8.25 era so far this season. He has six saves, less than half of the Rays' Bryan Brown.

Then there is Shane Baz. He had a strong showing against the Rays last week, but he's off to a 1-5 start with a 4.87 ERA.

Zack Littell was 8-8 last year with a 3.58. But he's 3-4 this year with a 5.83.

Mason Montgomery is 1-1 with a 3.79 ERA

Christopher Morel? He's hitting .154 in Miami.

Catcher Danny Jansen is hitting .186 in Texas.

Ben Rortvedt is in the minors for Los Angeles.

Jake Mangum is hittting .250 in Pittsburgh, 46 points lower than a year ago.

In other words, baseball can be viewed as a high-stakes poker game. You're betting on a player's future.

Through the years, the Rays have done that fairly well. They don't hit with all of their free agents. They don't win all of their trades. But for the most part, they've kept the wins coming.

Saturday, 4 a.m.

Might the Tampa Bay Rays run away with the high-priced American League East?

And if not, who is going to catch them?

The Rays played a familiar script on Friday night. They were dormant for seven innings, then got into their opponent's bullpen. They pulled away for a 4-2 victory over the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium to pull 5 1/2 games ahead in the division league.

It was a similar game to their last one, a 5-3 win over Baltimore when a four-run eighth led them to a win. The Rays are 22-4 in their last 26 games.

The Rays are 14-2 in AL East games.

This time, the enemy pitcher was Gerritt Cole, who was pitching for the first time in 569 days. Cole threw a two-hit shutout for six innings.

But in the eighth, the Rays woke up. They amassed three hits, a walk, an error and a sacrifice fly and scored four runs.

Jonathan Aranda, the AL leader in RBI, tied the game with his 38th run driven in on a double. Richie Palacios had a two-out, two run single.

Palacios, Chandler Simpson and Cedrick Mullins all had two hits.

In his last seven games, Palacios has nine hits and has driven in five.

Nick Martinez went six innings and allowed just one earned run. Ian Seymour got his third win without a loss. Bryan Baker recorded his 14th save.

The Rays and Yankees play today at 1:35 at Yankee Stadium. Drew Rasmussen will start for the Rays against Ryan Weathers.

Thursday, 4 a.m.

It isn't just that the Rays came from behind Wednesday.

They were raised from the dead.

For seven innings, the Rays looked tamed. They managed two hits, and just one run, against former teammate Shane Baz. It looked like one of those days when a hot pitcher changes everything -- although Baz has been off to a difficult start.

Then came the eighth inning, when the Rays rose from the mat and pulled out a 5-3 victory. It completed the team's seventh sweep of the year. It was the team's 13th come-from-behind win of the year.

Want to talk about a memorable inning? It started when Hunter Feduccia had a bunt single. With two outs, Junior Caminero singled to right field.

Jonathan Aranda then had a double to drive in his 36th and 37th runs of the year (he leads the American League).

After Ryan Vilade walked, Richie Palacios singled to right to drive in Arada with the go-ahead run.

Palacios and Vilade pulled off a double-steal, with Vilade scoring the last run,

Feduccia had two hits, including his first major league home run. Caminero also had two hits.

Steven Matz returned to the starting lineup and allowed just three hits and one earned run in four innings. Jesse Scholtens (5-2) got the win and Ian Seymour earned his secondsave.

The Rays are off today, then open a series against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium on Friday at 7:05 p.m. Nick Martinez will start for the Rays against Gerritt Cole, who will be making his season debut.