90 wins in 90 GIFs: 16 through 30

Continuing on from the first part of 90 wins in 90 gifs, where the first 15 wins were covered, let’s re-live wins 16 through 30 from the Rays’ 20th anniversary season.

(16-22) May 12: Rays 10, Orioles 3

On a rainy day in Baltimore in the second game of a doubleheader, a base hit from CJ Cron turned into a frenzy as an overthrow by Jonathan Schoop scored Denard Span.

Hit the deck, Q!

(17-22) May 14: Rays 2, Royals 1

Adeiny Hechavarria showed why his nickname is La Pantera, avoiding a tag from Salvador Perez and giving the Rays a 2-1 lead.

(18-22) May 15: Rays 6, Royals 5

The emergence of Joey Wendle was such a fun thing to watch. He extended a hot April into May, and with two outs in the top of the ninth in Kansas City, Wendle delivered the game-deciding run.

(19-22) May 16: Rays 5, Royals 3

On an afternoon when the Rays scored three runs in the first and CJ Cron hit his second home run in as many days, Jake Faria had the best moment of the day.

(20-22) May 17: Rays 7, Angels 1

CJ Cron’s home run in the sixth, against his former team, was his third home run in as many days. It was also the first run in the ballgame by either team, but it was far from the last as the Rays finished the game with seven on the board.

(21-22) May 18: Rays 8, Angels 3

Blake Snell recorded eight strikeouts against the Angels but the story of this game was Wilson Ramos, who hit two home runs to help secure the Rays’ fifth straight victory.

(22-22) May 19: Rays 5, Angels 3

This was a day that changed the Rays season entirely, and in a good way: The introduction of the “Opener.”

Sergio Romo took the mound in the first inning and struck out two batters. What made this game even better? Daniel Robertson’s grand slam in the second. After six straight wins, the Rays were back at .500.

(23-25) May 24: Rays 6, Red Sox 3

In his last game with the Rays, Denard Span leaped over the short wall at the Trop twice! He didn’t catch either of the foul balls, but he sure did look heroic in both efforts.

(24-26) May 26: Rays 5, Orioles 1

Ryne Stanek started his first career MLB game against Baltimore, striking out three of the five batters he faced. One of those batters was Adam Jones, who Stanek struck out with high 100mph heat.

(25-26) May 27: Rays 8, Orioles 3

Carlos Gomez’ home run in the seventh traveled 433 feet, which is pretty impressive. Carlos Gomez’ catch in the field before hitting that home run, however, was even more impressive.

(26-26) May 28: Rays 1, Athletics 0 (F/13)

13 innings without a run, you’d think the moment of the game would be the run that’s finally plated, right? Well, it would be, but Jonny Venters was on the mound to make sure that run would be the only run to score.

Venters recording his first save since 2011 made this an easy selection.

(27-26) May 29: Rays 4, Athletics 3

Carlos Gomez borrowed glasses from an Oakland fan. Nothing from this game topped that, which is saying something in a game where four different Rays players hit solo home runs.

(28-26) May 30: Rays 6, Athletics 0

“Nasty Nate” Eovaldi threw six no-hit innings, while Rob Refsnyder and Johnny Field homered. Two months later, none of those guys were on the team anymore. However, their contributions will never be forgotten.

(29-34) June 9: Rays 7, Mariners 3

Jake Bauers and Carlos Gomez had quite the unforgettable collision on that June evening. Thankfully, both guys were fine.

(30-35) June 11: Rays 8, Blue Jays 4

The final win to be featured in part two, what better way to contrast the previous Jake Bauers moment than with his first career home run in the big leagues?

Hovering around .500, this was a much better position to be in than the bottom of the division, like many (wrong) people predicted. This team was truly entertaining, and that was evident very early on.

The next chapter of 90 wins in 90 gifs will feature a couple of walk-offs, a hanging speaker controversy and benches clearing!