Tampa Bay Rays In Rarified Air With American League Dominance
The Rays have won 13 of their first 14 games against the American League teams to join four other clubs with the best start against the Junior Circuit.
CLEVELAND: Richie Palacios #1, Jonathan Aranda #8 and Cole Sulser #71 of the Tampa Bay Rays celebrate the team's 1-0 win over the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field on April 28, 2026 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images) Getty Images It is rather ironic the Tampa Bay Rays began the week with a three-game series in Cleveland. After all, they entered Wednesday’s matinee having won 13 straight against American League foes since losing their first such encounter April 3 at Minnesota.
A 1-0 win Tuesday evening bumped the Rays’ mark 13-1 against the AL to join four other teams with the best start against the junior circuit. The first team to get off to such a start was Cleveland in 1966. Here is a look at how each of the four other teams fared in the seasons they had their hot starts, each predating interleague play.
Speaking of which, the Rays are 5-10 against the NL this season, all Central Division teams. 1987 Milwaukee Brewers | 91-71 | Third Place AL East | 6 GB Tom Trebelhorn’s club had the best start of the group in winning 17 of its first 18. At 20-3 and with a five-game lead in the AL East following a 6-4 win at Seattle on May 2, the Brewers were sailing.
Alas, that would be their last win for a while. A 12-game losing streak in which they scored two or fewer runs eight times sent the Brewers tumbling into third place. A couple of wins stopped the bleeding ever so temporarily as Milwaukee lost six straight to stretch its downslide to 18 of 20 and clinging to a winning record (22-21) while having plummeted to fifth place in the seven-team division.