Tampa Bay Rays: This isnt luck anymore, its control 
Forget the hot-start label or the idea this is just some fluky run. After 40 games, a quarter of the season, the Tampa Bay Rays own the best record in the American League after beating the Blue Jays 8-5 in Toronto on Monday night. For a team many had pencilled in for the basement of their division six weeks ago, the message is loud enough now: the Rays are for real. Only the Atlanta Braves have been better across MLB.
Drew Rasmussen: The model of consistency
On the mound, Drew Rasmussen once again showed why hes one of the most dependable arms in the sport. By holding the Jays to three runs over six innings, he stretched his record run to 46 straight starts allowing four runs or fewer. Even though the bullpen gave up more than three runs for the first time in 16 games, a franchise record, Tampa’s rotation remains a nightmare. Theyve allowed just 29 runs in total over their last 17 outings.
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The power of friendship and ridiculous depth
How are they doing it? For pitcher Shane McClanahan, the secret is the clubhouse chemistry he jokingly calls the “power of friendship.” But on the field, its mostly about execution. The Rays have MLB’s best contact rate (82.8%) and hardly ever strike out. On Monday, role players like Jake Fraley and Richie Palacios, who had not played in a week, returned to the lineup and made an immediate impact, proving everyone on this roster knows exactly what he is supposed to do.
Jonathan Aranda: Toronto’s nightmare
At the top of the order, the stars handled the rest. Chandler Simpson used his elite speed to torment the Jays defence, racking up three hits. But Jonathan Aranda delivered the knockout blow. The American League RBI leader (32) crushed a 415-foot homer to centre field. And here is the ugly bit for Toronto: 10 of his 32 career home runs have come against the Blue Jays. “Good thing theyre a division rival,” he said, knowing there will be plenty more chances to do damage against them this season.
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