Wednesday, 3 a.m.
So far, the streak has been talked about over headlines, over time zones, over fan bases.
Suddenly, it is being talked about over history.
The more this team wins, the more memories it brings up. The calendar flips backward, back to when baseball was played by stiff-legged men in black-and-white.
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Think about it. Murderer's Row never did this. The Gas House Gang never did this. The Boys of Summer never did this.
The Tampa Bay Rays, unbelievable at 11-0, did it again Tuesday night. They beat the Boston Red Sox, 7-2, on a night they launched four more homers.
Which brings us to this:
The last team to win 11 in a row to start the season was Milwaukee in 1987. They won 13, as did Atlanta in 1982. No one else since 1900 has done it.
The only other team to hit 29 homers in their first 11 games were the 2000 St. Louis Cardinals.
Add the performance of Brandon Lowe to the historical markers. Lowe has now hit homers in four straight games (he has 10 RBI over that stretch).
Isaac Paredes, Yandy Diaz and Josh Lowe also homered. Diaz and Brandon Lowe's homers came back-to-back
"We’re making in-game adjustments off pitchers," said manager Kevin Cash. "That’s not easy to do. Whatever they’re learning in that first at-bat, they're putting to use in the second and third."
Shane McClanahan picked up his third victory of the season. He allowed two hits and struck out nine over five innings.
The Rays play again tonight at 6:40 p.m. at Tropicana Field. Taj Bradley will start instead of the injured Zach Eflin against Chris Sale.