It’s not exactly a clash of titans, and certainly not the kind of matchup one might have imagined at the start of the season, but the two-game “tease” of a series between the Orioles and Rays in Tampa Bay the next two days has an intriguing sidelight.
Despite the insane 31-7 home record that not only spurred a club record 13 straight wins but also matched the 1987 Brewers and 1982 Braves for the longest streak ever to start a season, it’s not all about the Rays. They are only bit players to be sure, but the Orioles actually have a hand in the somewhat historical race to date.
Although generally expected to be running closer to the bottom than the top of the American League East, the Rays and Orioles have been running 1-2 in the standings since April 14. Perhaps even more surprising, since the Rays scored a 3-0 win in the first meeting between the teams on May 8, there have been only four days when the teams were separated by as much as 6.5 games.
The Orioles won the next two games of that series, and even though the Rays didn’t drop below a .700 percentage until a week ago (June 12), those four days are the only time they trailed by more than six games.
The continued relative closeness of the race, especially in view of the Yankees’ early dominance a year ago when they were playing at a pace as high as .735, was enough to raise the question of when, if ever, a team had played so well without blowing away the opposition. Suffice it to say it has been a long, long time.
The super sleuths at the Elias Sports Bureau, where they are masters at tracking down such information, used 65 games (the number the O’s had played when the Rays were last over .700 (48-20, .706) as a guide. The last time a team with a winning percentage over .700 had a lead of less than six games was 1954 — the Orioles’ first year in Baltimore — when the eventual AL champion Cleveland Indians (101-40, 716) had a 5.5-game lead over the Yankees (95-45).
The last time it happened this early in the season was more than a century ago — 1918, when the Cubs had the same 48-20 record as the Rays had this year, and just a five-game lead over the Giants.
Adding to the intrigue is the fact that the Orioles and Rays have only played three times and have 10 games left. The Rays have the best record in baseball, the Orioles surprisingly third-best. Tampa Bay’s winning percentage at home is an insane .816, while the Orioles’ 22-14 mark (.611) is the best road record in the American League, adding still another dimension.
In addition, these teams have displayed some chippiness recently and also have endured a few hiccups lately — which in the case of the Orioles has fueled speculation that some roster juggling is imminent.
If there is such a thing as a “big” two-game series starting on the first day of summer, this one qualifies.
Jim Henneman can be reached at JimH@pressboxonline.com
Photo Credit: Colin Murphy/PressBox