However, through the team\u2019s first series of the season against the St. Louis Cardinals, offense was not their problem. The Rays scored seven, five and 11 runs in their three games, but disappointingly came away with a 1-2 record as the bullpen experienced some woes<\/a>.<\/p>\n But the offense got the job done, beating the Cardinals with their version of death by 1,000 cuts. 41 total hits were recorded, with 17 apiece in Games 1 and 3.<\/p>\n Rays rack up singles against Cardinals Mar 28, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Carson Williams (7) hits a two run single against the St. Louis Cardinals during the ninth inning at Busch Stadium. | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images<\/p>\n However, it wasn\u2019t being done with extra-base hits and home runs. The Rays epitomized small ball, hitting 35 singles over their first three games.<\/p>\n As shared by CespedesBBQ on X, that is the most singles for a team over the course of their first three games since the Brooklyn Dodgers hit 38 in their first three contests of 1952 against the Boston Braves.<\/p>\n The Tampa Bay Rays hit 35 (!!!) singles over their first three games.<\/p>\n That’s the most singles in a team’s first three games since the 1952 (!!!) Dodgers hit 38 across their first three games.<\/p>\n \u2014 C\u00e9spedes Family BBQ (@CespedesBBQ) March 30, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Leading the way, unsurprisingly, is Diaz with nine hits, eight of which are singles, and Aranda, who has six hits, five of which are base knocks.<\/p>\n The only players who didn\u2019t record a hit against St. Louis in the season-opening series were Richie Palacios, who went 0-for-6, and Ryan Vilade, who was 0-for-3.<\/p>\n As shared by Codify on X, the Rays are lapping the field thus far when it comes to singles hit this season. The next closest team to their 35 is the Milwaukee Brewers, who have recorded 24 singles thus far and are Tampa Bay\u2019s opponent for their second series of the season.<\/p>\n How Many Singles They’ve Hit So Far:<\/p>\n 35 TB \u2014 Codify (@CodifyBaseball) March 30, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n That season-opening series against the Cardinals epitomizes what the Rays are. This is a high-contact team that will put the ball in play, putting pressure on the defense to make plays.<\/p>\n Alas, while the sample size is small, it also highlights an area of concern: this lineup doesn\u2019t have much pop. Home runs are going to be hard to come by, which was a risk the front office knew they were taking. <\/p>\n It has to be disheartening for some fans to see Brandon Lowe<\/a> record three in his first series with the Pittsburgh Pirates.<\/p>\n To combat the lack of extra-base pop in the lineup, it would be nice to see Tampa Bay get aggressive on the basepaths. They attempted only one steal against St. Louis and Jonny DeLuca was caught stealing.<\/p>\n Ramping up the attempted steals will help compensate for their lack of pop once they find the right lineup combination.<\/p>\n![\"Tampa](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/01kmzmgsg9hsyfmtkben.jpg\" "\\"Tampa")
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10 ATH SF pic.twitter.com\/7fqCZrqjgf<\/a><\/p>\n