Monday looked like it might be a night for small victories for the Rays, as trade deadline acquisition Freddy Peralta showed better in his second start than his debut, and previously cold at the plate Yandy Diaz stayed hot.

But after an explosive eight-run eighth inning that was their most productive of the season, it turned into a huge comeback win, as they rallied to beat the A’s 10-6.

The dramatic victory expanded the Rays’ winning streak to seven games, improved their American League-leading record to 72-46 and extended their East division lead over the Yankees to six games with 44 to play.

The eight runs were the most the Rays scored in an inning since April 2025, and the third time in team history they did so in the eighth inning or later when trailing. By the end of the night, they posted their first win on the road when trailing by four or more runs after seven innings since Sept. 27, 2009, at Texas.

Their eighth-inning rally lasted for 12 batters, with the first eight reaching safely, and three A’s pitchers.

They got to a quick start, scoring three runs on the first four pitches from former Rays minor-leaguer Seth Johnson as Diaz singled for his third hit of the night, Jonathan Aranda singled, and Junior Caminero snapped an 0-for-15 skid with his 34th homer of the season.

From there, it was a showcase of their versatile offense.

Ryan Vilade walked. Johnny DeLuca singled. Chander Simpson delivered an RBI single to make it 6-6. A Nick Fortes walk and a Taylor Walls two-run single put the Rays up 8-6. After pinch-hitter Liam Hicks struck out, Diaz delivered a sac fly, and Aranda followed with another RBI single to make it 10-6.

Peralta had a much better second outing for the Rays than his Aug. 4 debut in Colorado, when he allowed seven runs on nine hits (including two homers) and lasted only 3 2/3 innings.

Monday, he two gave up two quick runs in a 29-pitch first inning, then settled down and in, allowing just one more run, on a Zack Gelof homer, in working through the sixth.

The Rays took a quick lead when Diaz, coming off a four-hit Sunday in Seattle, blistered Lopez’s second pitch 439 feet at 109.9 mph over the centerfield fence.

The A’s answered with two runs off Peralta. combining a leadoff single by Jeff McNeil, an RBI double by Tyler Soderstrom, a one-out walk by Carlos Cortes and a two-out double steal.

Peralta worked a solid six, allowing the three runs on six hits and a walk, striking out five.

Reliever Chris Roycroft took over in the seventh and made a bit of a mess, allowing three runs. He allowed a single to the first batter, hit the second, gave up an RBI double to the third, a sac fly to the fourth and another RBI double to the sixth.

The Rays were held to two runs over seven innings by lefty Jacob Lopez, who spent six years in the Tampa Bay organization, including parts of 2023-24 in the majors, before being traded to the A’s in December 2024 with Jeffrey Springs. That was Lopez’s second straight strong start against his ex-mates, having thrown seven shutout innings last year.

Notes

• Right-hander Jake Woodford, a St. Petersburg native and Plant High product, signed a minor-league deal to add depth. Woodford, 29, was in spring camp with the Rays, then was traded to Milwaukee, pitching in the majors and minors before being dropped in July, and also was with the Cubs and Triple-A Iowa while being designated for assignment twice.

• The start time of the Aug. 17 home game vs. Baltimore was moved up from 6:40 p.m. to 6:05.

• Due to a shipping delay, Saturday’s Flappy Boi bobblehead giveaway won’t happen as scheduled. Instead, the first 10,000 fans Saturday will get a Flappy Boi T-shirt, a free ticket to a Sept. 15-16-17 game and a voucher to pick up the bobblehead then. For more info, see raysbaseball.com/flappy.

• MLB released the postseason schedule, with Wild Card Series play starting Sept. 29 and the World Series running from Oct. 23-31.

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