After two down years, the Tampa Bay Rays are back in a big way. On Tuesday night, they secured their bye to the ALDS by virtue of winning the AL East division title with a 6-1 victory over the New York Yankees. Now with a record of 96-61, the Rays are guaranteed to finish the 2026 MLB season with a better record than the Yankees (90-67).

The Rays won 80 and 77 games, respectively, in 2024 and 2025, missing the postseason entirely. But as always, they entered the 2026 season as a dark-horse contender to make it to the postseason. Led by a smart front office that tries to find advantages every which way, the Rays are always looking for ways to compete all while setting themselves up for the future.

And it looks like one competitive advantage the franchise has stumbled upon is… trivia knowledge? According to Rays starting pitcher Nick Martinez, he saw just how good this team could be when he witnessed how locked in the team was during trivia night all the way back in spring.

“First Thursday night trivia night at Spring Training, we had a big show out. A lot of guys showed up. I just knew, I just felt the camaraderie this team has, man, and how much they want to play for each other and get together,” Martinez told Foul Territory TV during the Rays' division-title winning celebration in the locker room.

The first clue the Rays could win the AL East? Thursday night trivia in spring training, according to Nick Martinez. 😂pic.twitter.com/1WtvmwnDa0

— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) September 23, 2026

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Now, Martinez didn't exactly say whether or not the group (or groups) of Rays players actually won first place during that aforementioned trivia night. But having incredible team chemistry always bodes well for any team, as it can help players perform better than most expect they would.

The Rays are still operating on a shoestring budget, as they are sporting MLB's eighth-cheapest payroll at just $107.4 million total for 2026. On a wins per dollar basis, Tampa Bay is the cream of the crop in the big leagues.

All that's left for this team is to finally find that breakthrough in the postseason after falling short in the World Series in both times they reached the Fall Classic (2008 and 2020).