The Tampa Bay Rays open a three-game set against the Athletics on Monday night in West Sacramento, Calif., with Freddy Peralta making his second start for Tampa Bay and Jacob Lopez going for the Athletics. First pitch is set for 9:40 p.m. ET, and the matchup arrives with one club chasing the AL East and the other trying to stop a collapse that has already ended its playoff hopes.
Tampa Bay has not trailed in the division since the end of June and is being given a 74.5% chance to win the AL East. That makes this series opener more than a routine date on the schedule; it is a test of whether the Rays can keep stacking wins while the Athletics try to keep the season from sliding further out of reach.
The numbers behind the standings are harsh. The Athletics have gone 7-25 since the start of July, were effectively a 50-50 team for a playoff spot on June 18, and are now effectively eliminated from contention. Their pitching staff has been the worst in the league since the All-Star break, and no bullpen has been worse over the full season, a burden made heavier by Shea Langeliers' season-ending injury and Nick Kurtz's potentially long-term ailment. Tyler Soderstrom is the lone above-average hitter left in the regular lineup, which leaves Lopez with very little margin against a Tampa Bay club that has been built to punish thin staffs.
Peralta is an uneasy figure in a comfortable place. He is starting for one of baseball's best teams even though his first Tampa Bay outing went badly, when he allowed nine hits and seven earned runs in 3.2 innings against the Colorado Rockies. He also entered that change with a 4.99 ERA in 22 starts with the New York Mets before being traded, far removed from the 3.59 ERA he posted across eight seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers. The Rays have not needed perfection from him to get here, but they do need stability now, especially in a series that turns quickly if their starter cannot settle in early.
There is also the strange backdrop of the ballpark itself. The Athletics are still playing at their temporary home while the Rays are back at Tropicana Field, one of the oddities that defined last season for both clubs. Tampa Bay, which won the AL pennant in 2020 and made the playoffs every year from 2019 through 2023, is again behaving like a team headed for October. The Athletics, meanwhile, are fighting just to stay ahead of the Los Angeles Angels and Colorado Rockies in the race to avoid the bottom.
That is what makes Monday night matter. For Tampa Bay, it is another chance to tighten its grip on the AL East. For the Athletics, it is a chance to interrupt the slide before a three-game set becomes another reminder of how far the season has already gone.
