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BALTIMORE, MD – JULY 01: One of the biggest individual player surprises of the 2017 season, Logan Morrison, helps the surprising Rays into the top ten. /

Kevin Cash has the surprising Rays playing well. The club has won eight of their last 13 games, and has a 14-9 mark since June 7. The recent hot stretch has helped Tampa rise from 16th at the start of June into the current top ten.

Tampa Bay currently sits in the second American League Wildcard playoff position. They are also just two games behind the New York Yankees and four behind the Boston Red Sox in the AL East race.

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On offense the club has been led by the surprising performance of first baseman Logan Morrison. The 29-year old has bombed 24 homers, driven in 57 runs, and scored 46 times.

Veteran third baseman Evan Longoria, right fielder Steven Souza, and LF/DH Corey Dickerson are the club’s other main offensive threats.

CAN RAYS HANG IN THE RACE?

The Rays suffered a huge loss when Gold Glove center fielder Kevin Kiermaier suffered a right hip fracture. He is expected to miss at least two months. Tampa will be lucky to get him back for what they hope will be a September that matters.

On the mound, Tampa runs out a trio of solid righties in the rotation in Alex Cobb, Jake Odorizzi, and Chris Archer. They have also gotten strong work from young call-up Jacob Faria.

Both Cobb and Archer have been the subject of trade rumors. It will be interesting to see how GM Erik Neander handles the trade deadline if the club is still in contention.

JULY 2017 MLB POWER RANKING: TOP TEN

(last month’s ranking in parentheses)

10. Tampa Bay Rays (16)

9. Milwaukee Brewers (13)

8. New York Yankees (4)

7. Colorado Rockies (6)

6. Cleveland Indians (10)

5. Washington Nationals (2)

4. Boston Red Sox (5)

3. Arizona Diamondbacks (7)

2. Houston Astros (1)

1. Los Angeles Dodgers (3)

Next: NL teams bang their way to the top of the standings

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