How turning up the volume helped Rays turn around their season

ST. PETERSBURG — Shawn Armstrong needed a boost.

After throwing more than 30 pitches over two innings Sunday while trying to keep the Rays within a run of the Mets, the veteran reliever was about tapped-out as he pitched to Starling Marte with two outs and the bases loaded in the eighth, with the more dangerous Francisco Lindor on deck.

Then Armstrong heard Richie Palacios, the 26-year-old newcomer in his 28th game with the Rays, offering strong, and colorful, words of encouragement from his position at second base.

“It was like, with some other dialogue in the middle, him saying, ‘Let’s Go, Army!’ And he’s like, ‘We eff-ing got you!’ and ‘We believe in you!’ Hearing him yelling that to me in a bases-loaded situation, it fired me up,” Armstrong said.

“I was exhausted facing that last guy with the workload that I’d had. By hearing that behind me, it’s like, ‘That’s sick.’ For a young guy I’ve only played with this year, it kind of got in my feels a little bit. I was like, ‘Hell, yeah!’ That’s dope.’”

Armstrong, with the assist from Palacios, got out of the jam. The Rays soon after tied the game on Randy Arozarena’s homer with two outs in the ninth, then won in the 10th on Jonny DeLuca’s two-run walkoff triple. It was the third of five consecutive wins heading into play Wednesday.

The conversation leading to the celebration was not coincidental, as playing with more energy had been among the topics of a closed-door meeting prior to Friday’s game.

“Quiet dugouts don’t win games,” Armstrong said.

Coming off an abysmal 1-5 trip to Chicago and Milwaukee, manager Kevin Cash called the rare-for-him session. He spoke for a while, reminding players that the staff was there to support them, and they were all in it together. He noted they had played poorly in all facets of the game on the trip but also made clear there were some things in their control they could do better.

Then Cash asked the players to stay in the clubhouse and talk several things out among themselves. Veterans Yandy Diaz, Zach Eflin and Brandon Lowe led the conversation. Armstrong and others joined in.

Details stayed mostly in-house, but several topics were covered, such as being there to help each other; doing what’s necessary to win and maintain their standard of five consecutive playoff appearances; and the need to play together with more energy, passion and vocal support.

“It sounds rah-rah, but there’s something to it,” reliever Jason Adam said. “Being there for your teammates and cheering for them, these little things, that’s what good teams do.”

Diaz, through team interpreter Manny Navarro, said the vibe was noticeably better from the start of Friday’s game “and hopefully we can have that energy going on the rest of the year.”

Arozarena agreed, saying via Navarro the boost “was good to see,” and combined with the results brings confidence to the team.

“It’s just made for a more fun environment,” starter Ryan Pepiot said. “Guys are back to having fun playing baseball again.”

The timing of the meeting was considered ideal following the rough trip, which dropped the Rays to four games under .500 (at 14-18) for the first time since 2018. “What made it the right time?” Cash said. “We were getting our butts kicked.”

Plus, there was the potential for something of a restart, as they were opening a lengthy homestand (nine games in 10 days) and debuting their new City Connect uniforms.

“We all talked, and I think the road trip was a wakeup call,” Adam said. “We were at the point where I think we all knew everyone in here needed to be better. …

“We were willing to call each other out, because we love each other and we want the best for each other. So, whatever it takes to win a ballgame.”

Eflin first hinted that the lack of energy was an issue following his April 26 losing start in Chicago that kicked off the trip.

Asked about the team’s inconsistent play, he said one way to address it was keeping their heads up and “showing up with as much energy as possible” each day. “That’s really the one thing we can control right now is our attitude and our will to win,” he said, “the passion for the game, the energy.”

The nine-year veteran brought it up again, unsolicited, following his May 1 loss that wrapped up the trip.

“We’ve just got to do a better job of playing together. Like I was saying last time, showing some energy, playing with some passion. Those are things that we can control.”

Cash calling a meeting “definitely” amplified the need to address the issue, Eflin said Monday. Plus, “sometimes you’ve got to sit down and really just talk person-to-person about some things, get everybody together.”

On a team without a clear longtime veteran leader (such as Kevin Kiermaier or Evan Longoria) and with a mix of about half English speakers (most of the pitchers and catchers) and half Spanish speakers from Latin American countries (many of the position players), the dynamic of those conversations can be challenging. Plus, due to injuries, several young players made the roster somewhat unexpectedly and may have had their own reasons for feeling uncomfortable.

Based on the initial results, the group therapy session seems to have worked. The Rays came out of it feeling unified, and then played that way in sweeping the Mets and winning Monday’s series opener against the White Sox.

“To have everybody pulling in the same direction is the goal on any single team,” Eflin said. “That’s where the chemistry comes from, where there’s not one person pulling in a different direction. So, I thought it was really important for us to all get in there, have an open discussion and really kind of let some things go. And all from a place of love and competition and wanting to do it for everyone.”

And now to keep it that way, even when they fall into the next rut.

“Just getting everybody on the same page with things and understanding what we’re really doing this for,” Eflin said, “and now to continue that kind of energy and motivation and make sure we don’t look back.”

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