Who knows how long it will last but last night’s win combined with the Yankees loss moved the Rays into a tie for first place in the AL East.

That really isn’t news.  The Rays have been on the Yankees heels for what seems like an eternity.  (Today is just the 7th day in the last two months that the Rays are in first place).

But it does give me a chance to mention a great bit of research from the Rays PR staff:

There is only one other team in Major League History that was 76-48 or better after 124 games, but not in first place.  That team, the 1979 Boston Red Sox, was also 76-48 after 124 games and went on to finish the year 91-69, 11.5 games behind Baltimore’s 102-57 record.

For now, our 77-48 record is good enough to take us out of this small group of great second-place teams.  But, it is good to remember that our second place run could have been worse.  That ’79 Sox team was 4.5 games out when they were 76-48, and they didn’t even have a wild card to give them hope.