Resurgent Rays rise in AL East

Improved bats lift Tampa Bay in race against Red Sox, Yankees

As the networks trained their eyes on the New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox four-game series last weekend, televising three of the games nationally, the Tampa Bay Rays were quietly making inroads in the division race.

The Rays, who closed within two games of American League East-leading Boston after beating the Oakland Athletics 3-2 on Monday, were not moving in stealth fashion merely because they started the second half of the season on a West Coast trip,

LANCE IVERSEN, USA TODAY SPORTS “We love to be flying under the radar,” says Steven Souza Jr., right, who has 19 home runs.