MLB

The Tampa Bay Rays are the first team in MLB with 50 wins

The Tampa Bay Rays split the series with the Oakland Athletics on Luke Rayley’s home run to become the first team in MLB with 50 wins this season.

JOHN G. MABANGLOEFE

The Tampa Bay Rays have the best record in Major League Baseball and they emphasized it by becoming the first organization to reach 50 wins in the 2023 MLB season.

Tampa Bay’s half-century came when they beat the Athletics 4-3 at the Oakland Coliseum thanks to a solo home run by Luke Raley in the top of the eighth inning .

Isaac Paredes drove in the Rays’ first run in the second with a single to right that scored Harol Ramírez. The inning ended with a 2-0 Rays lead thanks to a Taylor Walls double that scored Raley.

Manuel Margot added a third run with a home run that traveled 397 feet from home plate to left center field in the fourth inning to make it 3-0.

The A’s then gave Tampa a scare, tying the game with a three-run fifth inning. First, Ryan Noda lined Kevin Smith to center field for an RBI, before Seth Brown drove in two more with a single to left.

Raley answered back for Tampa, with relievers Jason Adam and Pete Fairbanks taking it upon themselves to slam the door shut.

Who will be the next team to reach 50 wins?

The Rays are out in front, but the gap is razor thin behind them, with the Baltimore Orioles sitting at 43-25, the Texas Rangers at 42-25, the Atlanta Braves at 42-26, and the Arizona DiamondBacks at 41- 28.

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