For two games, the Tampa Bay Rays looked like a team out of time. They kept stacking hits, kept putting runners on base, and somehow kept walking away frustrated. On Sunday, it finally flipped. The hits didn’t just pile up, they mattered. Tampa Bay hammered out 17 hits and scored 11 runs in an 11-7 win over the St. Louis Cardinals, avoiding a sweep and putting a proper ending on one of the strangest opening series you’ll see.

The Tampa Bay Rays hit 35 (!!!) singles over their first three games.

That’s the most singles in a team’s first three games since the 1952 (!!!) Dodgers hit 38 across their first three games.

— Céspedes Family BBQ (@CespedesBBQ) March 30, 2026

 

35 singles and a throwback offensive identity

The bigger story is what they’ve done across all three games. Thirty-five singles. That’s the most any team has had through three games since the Brooklyn Dodgers put up 38. In today’s game, where everything is built around power, that number almost doesn’t make sense. This isn’t a team waiting for the three-run homer. This is a lineup that keeps coming, keeps putting the ball in play, and keeps forcing you to defend every pitch.

Yandy Daiz leads a relentless attack

On Sunday, it finally clicked all the way through. Yandy Díaz was at the center of it, going 5-for-6 with four RBIs and setting the tone from the first inning to the last. Jonathan Aranda added three hits and two RBIs, and Cedric Mullins chipped in with key run production. The Rays didn’t overwhelm with power. They overwhelmed with pressure. Three straight RBI doubles in the fourth inning broke the game open, and it felt inevitable because St. Louis just couldn’t stop the traffic.

Cardinals bullpen issues are already showing

That’s where the other side of this story lives. The Cardinals’ bullpen has been a problem right out of the gate. In all three games, leads haven’t felt safe and innings haven’t ended cleanly. Sunday was the clearest example. After Dustin May struggled early, the bullpen never stabilized things. Matthew Pushard’s debut inning turned into more damage, and by the late innings, it felt like every ball the Rays put in play found grass. This wasn’t just Tampa Bay executing. This was a St. Louis staff that couldn’t stop the bleeding once it started.

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Why this style is a nightmare for opposing pitchers

And that’s what makes this Rays approach so dangerous. When a team is built like this, there’s no reset button for pitchers. No easy strikeout to slow things down. No quick inning to regroup. It’s just constant pressure, and if your bullpen is even a little off, it snowballs fast. That’s exactly what happened in this series.

The record says the Rays left St. Louis at 1-2, but that doesn’t really capture what just happened. They showed an identity that’s completely different from most of the league, and on Sunday, they showed what it looks like when it actually works. If they keep hitting like this, the wins are going to follow, and teams with shaky bullpens are going to have a long, exhausting night every time they see Tampa Bay.

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