My Two Cents: Rays' Interleague Dominance Keeping Them Afloat — So Far

MIAMI, Fla.

Most baseball experts are in agreement on one thing a quarter of the way through the 2025 season.

The National League as a whole is far better than the American League.

You might get an argument from the Tampa Bay Rays.

And at least through their eyes, they just might have a valid point.

The Rays are 13-8 so far in interleague play and have won six of seven series against their NL counterparts.

Those 13 wins? That's the most in all of baseball.

Their .619 winning percentage is second-best in baseball for teams that have played seven games or more, behind the world-champion Los Angeles Dodgers, who are 7-2 so far, a 778 winning percentage.

Their only blemish is a sweep by the Philadelphia Phillies back home in Tampa.

And they hope to add on to that win total this weekend when they take on the Marlins for three games in Miami.

The Rays are currently 20-23 overall, and five games behind the New York Yankees in the American League East.

You might want to argue whether they are actually still IN the race, but I sure think they are.

My two biggest reasons why? The Rays haven't even come close to their potential so far though we've seen glimpses and they are chasing the 2025 Yankees that are 25-18, not the 1927 Yankees.

Sure, Aaron Judge is incredible, but this is no Murderer's Row.

They'd be out of it already if it wasn't for all their success against the National League.

The Rays are just 7-15 vs.

AL foes.

Straight up, they'd be 10.5 games out and thinking about selling off pieces at the trade deadline.

But every game counts, and a win is a win.

They opened the season at home by taking two of three from both the Colorado Rockies and Pittsburgh Pirates.

A week later, they took two of three at home against Atlanta, and then two of three on the road in Arizona.

They played their best baseball of the year in San Diego when they swept the Padres my No.

1 team in this week's power rankings.

And even after the sweep to Philly, they bounced back to win two of three against the Milwaukee Brewers, who have five winning streaks of three games or more already this year.

They need to keep piling up those wins this weekend against the Marlins, who are 16-26 so far and in last place in the National League East.

They are already 11 games behind the division-leading New York Mets.

They Rays' next interleague series, by the way, is also against the Marlins, June 6-8 in Tampa.

Things are lined up well for the Rays.

They have Taj Bradley, Drew Rasmussen and Shane Baz starting this weekend, and they're starting to hit better, scoring 11 runs against Toronto on Tuesday night, and then eight more in a win on Thursday.

Josh Lowe is back from an oblique injury, and he had three hits in his return in that Thursday win.

He's been out since Opening Day, and it's a huge plus to have him back.

He's missed a lot of time with various ailment since joining the Rays full-time in 2022.

When he's on the field, he's the Rays' most productive outfielder.

They need him on the field and as often as possible.

It will be interesting to see how much he plays this weekend, coming off the injury.

Rays manager Kevin Cash will want to manage his time closely, but the Marlins are starting three right-handers this weekend, starting with Max Meyer on Friday night (7:10 p.m.

ET first pitch).

The Rays are going to want to jump on him, because he's given up five earned runs in three straight starts.

This is a big weekend for the Rays to get greedy.

Winning another interleague series is a must, and a sweep would be tremendous, especially with the Yankees playing the Mets all weekend.

It might be a good time to gain some ground.

There are no guarantees with the Rays, of course, who've had their issues at the plate often thsi season.

They've played 12 games already this year where they've scored one run or less.

That can't happen this weekend.

It just can't.

What will help against all these righties is that left-handed hitting first baseman Jonathan Aranda has been very good all year, hitting .325 with six homers and 20 RBIs.

Josh Lowe is back, and Brandon Lowe, who was hitting just .190 before landing in Toronto, seemed to have found his groove.

He had three straight multi-hit games, with two homers and six RBIs.

Even left-handed center fielder Kameron Misner seems to be turning a corner.

He had an RBI single Wednesday, his first since April 23, and homered on Thursday, his first since April 14.

Throw in the lefty-hitting Chandler Simpson, who's a major pest at the plate, and the Rays have to like these matchups.

Having Yandy Diaz back should also help, since he missed the three Toronto games because of passport issues.

Left-handed starters have destroyed the Rays this season, pitching five shutouts (with a little help from bullpens).

They won't see any this weekend, and that's a blessing.

So it's a good time to make the most of it..

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