ST. PETERSBURG -- The final three weeks of the regular season were supposed to be a test for the Rays. A grind. A slog. A real challenge to their position atop the American League standings.

So far, they’re making it look easy.

After winning a three-game series in Atlanta to begin the week, the Rays capped a weekend sweep of the AL West-leading Astros with a 14-4 rout on Sunday afternoon at Tropicana Field. It was Tampa Bay’s Major League-leading and franchise record-setting 15th sweep of the season.

The victory made the Rays the first team in the AL to record 90 wins, pushed their record to a season-high 31 games over .500 at 90-59, improved them to 50-25 at the Trop this season and maintained their four-game lead over the Yankees (86-63) in the AL East with 13 to play.

“It's such a long season. There's obviously going to be times where you ride the swing a little bit more, and there's a little bit of maybe a rollercoaster,” starter Griffin Jax said Sunday morning. “But how we've been playing recently, just really solid ball in all parts of the game, it's just been a lot of fun to watch. We just know, coming to the ballpark, we're going to put a pretty good fight together.”

The outcome of the series finale was never really in question, as the Rays jumped out to a three-run lead in the first inning and never looked back. The only drama was whether there might be some history made before Houston left town.

Starter Freddy Peralta continued his incredible turnaround with Tampa Bay, firing five hitless innings. He walked three batters in the third inning, but third baseman Junior Caminero made a nice play and throw on a grounder by Isaac Paredes to leave the bases loaded.

With an 11-run lead and 86 pitches (49 strikes) to his name, Peralta was pulled after five innings, and Paredes ended the Rays’ no-hit bid with a two-run homer off hard-throwing prospect Brody Hopkins.

Meanwhile, the red-hot Victor Mesa Jr. took a run at the record books at the plate. Mesa got things started with a two-run triple off starter Hayden Wesneski in the first inning, reached on a single during Tampa Bay’s four-run third then legged out a hustle double and scored in a two-run fourth.

Seeking the third cycle in franchise history, and the first since Evan Longoria accomplished the feat against the Astros in 2017, Mesa flied out to right field in the sixth and struck out swinging in the eighth.

It was yet another impactful performance for Mesa, who has emerged as one of the Rays’ most valuable contributors thanks to his incredible defense in right field, his raw power at the plate and his impressive athleticism and instincts in every phase of the game.

It was hardly a one-man show, though. Richie Palacios continued his power surge by launching a three-run shot in the third, his 10th of the year. Nick Fortes ripped a two-run shot to left in the fifth. And Jonathan Aranda enjoyed his second career multi-homer game, giving him 21 on the season.