After ripping off 13 straight wins to start the season, the Tampa Bay Rays suffered their first defeat on Friday night. They fell, 6-3, to the Toronto Blue Rays on the road.
The loss prevented the Rays from setting an all-time Major League Baseball record of 14 wins to start a season. Instead, they remain tied with the 1982 Atlanta Braves and 1987 Milwaukee Brewers.
“Losing always sucks,” Rays second baseman Brandon Lowe said, via ESPN. “There’s no loss that feels any worse or any better than any other ones. You kind of put them all in the same kind of category, you know? Every win is great. Every loss is terrible.”
While the defeat itself was sour, the Rays social team decided to have a little fun with it.
Somewhere, the 1884 St. Louis Maroons are popping a bottle of champagne. pic.twitter.com/2lBn308Uj0
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) April 15, 2023
The Maroons, of course, went 20-0 to start the Union Association season of 1884. But even more than that, the tweet was really a homage to the 1972 Miami Dolphins, who to this day remain the only NFL team to finish a season undefeated (17-0).
It was a fun ride for the Rays but now that initial pressure is off. They can take things day-by-day in a competitive AL East where they currently have an early four-game lead.
