It was the game nobody wanted to play, but at least the Rays came out on the winning end of a 5-4 decision to end the regular season on a winning note after being swept in Cleveland. It was a similar makeshift lineup to yesterday with most of the still-healthy big guns riding the pine. Marc Wagner started and outside of a 3-run HR allowed in the 3rd, pitched well in his regular season finale going 6 5 3 3 1 8 and picking up the win to end 11-5, 3.33 as a Ray and 15-7, 3.22 overall. Jordan Diaz and Evan Godwin pitched the 7th and 8th with Godwin allowing a run, and Jose Alvarado got some work in for the first time in days, throwing a scoreless 9th to get his 20th save. On offense things started slowly with Dane Ayers' double to lead off the game (he scored on a Victor de Jesus groundout) the only hit they had until the 6th when they scored 3 times to take the lead. D'Andre Hodges' RBI single made it 3-2 and Isaac DeLeon's 2-run single put them ahead. Josh Naylor got his first (and likely last) Rays RBI with a single in the 8th.
Final Regular Season Record: 118-44, their second-best regular season in club history behind 2028's record-setting 122 wins. Next up: Game 1 of the ALDS at Publix Park against either Oakland or Cleveland.
The NL tiebreaker game (played on October 1):
San Diego will travel to Arizona for the wild card game as three teams from the NL West ended up in the playoffs.