Rays use strong arms, fast feet for a second straight win over Giants

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Rays combined another strong team effort on the mound with their small-ball offense on Saturday night to beat the Giants, 5-1, at Tropicana Field.

With their second straight win, the Rays improved to 20-12, including an impressive 18-7 run since their 2-5 start. It’s the sixth time they’ve started a season that well, and they made the playoffs four of the first five times (2010, 2019, 2020 and 2023, with the 2012 team missing out).

Griffin Jax, in his second “start” while transitioning back to the rotation, bulk-inning reliever Jesse Scholtens, Kevin Kelly, just-activated Garrett Cleavinger and recently acquired Casey Legumina combined to hold the Giants to one run.

It marked the ninth straight game Rays pitchers have allowed three or fewer runs, matching a May 2019 run as the third-longest such streak in franchise history. Only a 12-game streak in August 2014 and a 10-game streak in July/August 2016 were better.

The Rays went with their small-ball offense on Saturday.

They got one run in the fourth when Junior Caminero hustled to beat a throw for an infield single (thanks to a replay review), went to third on Jonathan Aranda’s single and scored on a bloop single by Jake Fraley.

They got three more in the fifth, with some help from the Giants.

Hunter Feduccia led off with a double, his first extra-base hit of the season. After bunting foul, Taylor Walls walked. Speedy Chandler Simpson then bounced a bunt toward third for a single that loaded the bases. Cedric Mullins, who snapped an 0-for-19 stretch with a first-inning single, drew a walk to force in a run, his first RBI since April 18.

After Caminero struck out on a call he didn’t like, Aranda delivered a two-run single that gave him 27 RBIs for the season, matching Houston’s Yordan Alvarez for the American League lead.

They hustled their way to another run in the eighth. Jonny DeLuca doubled with two outs, stole third and then headed home on an errant throw.

The Rays lost the shutout - which would have been the eighth of the season for the Giants - in the sixth.

Luis Arraez doubled with one out off bulk-inning reliever Jesse Scholtens, and Rafael Devers lined a two-out pitch to deep left that eluded Simpson at the wall.

Jax made his second multi-inning opener appearance as he transitions back to starting, working 2 2/3 one-hit, one-walk, no-run innings and throwing 45 pitches. That was a planned slight increase from his first outing April 26, when he worked 2 1/3 and threw 21.

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This story was originally published May 2, 2026 at 6:35 PM.