ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The Tampa Bay Rays are running out of time.
The Rays (72-75) have flirted with .500 baseball all year long -- and with that, lingering contention for the last of two American League wild-card spots -- but losing five of seven games has left them 5 1/2 games behind the Minnesota Twins for the second spot with 15 games to play.
A sustained winning streak continues to elude them. Most recently, they dropped two of three games to the New York Yankees in a "home" series relocated to Citi Field in New York because of Hurricane Irma.