TORONTO—The Tampa Bay Rays were defeated 6-3 by the Toronto Blue Jays, where their record now sits 13-1.
If they secured the victory, they would have been the first team in over a century to start their season 14-0. They are the first team since the 1987 Milwaukee Brewers to open their season with a 13-1 record.
Prior to that, the Atlanta Braves started their season 13-1 in 1982. The Rays will be hoping not to follow the 13 victories with five straight defeats as the Braves did.
The Rays previous longest winning streak in franchise history was 12 in 2004. In 2021, they won 11 games on the bounce.
@RaysBaseball tweeted:
“Somewhere, the 1884 St. Louis Maroons are popping a bottle of champagne” after the game. This was a reference to the Maroons record start of 20-0 to the season when Chester A. Arthur was president and writer James Joyce was a toddler.
The longest winning streak in pro American baseball dates back to the 1916, with the New York Giants with 26.
In 2017, the Cleveland Indians (now Guardians) won 22 consecutive games. Documented in the 2011 film “Moneyball” starring Brad Pitt, the Oakland A’s won 20 games in a row in 2002. They are the only two teams since 1935 to hit the magic number of 20.
