The Citrus Series is the name given to the interleague series between the Miami Marlins and Tampa Bay Rays in Major League Baseball. The Marlins broke into the league in 1993 as the Florida Marlins,[5] while the Rays had their first season in 1998 as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.[6] The first meeting between the two teams took place on June 22, 1998 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida during the Rays' inaugural season. Beginning with the 2012 season, when the Marlins are the home team games are played at LoanDepot Park, formerly known as Marlins Park until the 2021 season. From 1998 to 2011, the games were played at the currently-named Hard Rock Stadium, though it has been known by several names in its existence.
| Location | Florida |
|---|---|
| Teams | |
| First meeting | June 22, 1998[1] Tropicana Field Marlins 3, Devil Rays 2 |
| Latest meeting | July 31, 2024 Tropicana Field Marlins 6, Rays 2 |
| Next meeting | May 16, 2025 Tropicana Field |
| Statistics | |
| Meetings total | 141[2] |
| Most wins | Rays[2] |
| Regular season series | Rays, 81–60 (.574)[1] |
| Largest victory | |
| Longest win streak | |
| Current win streak | Marlins, 1[1] |
Currently, because the Marlins play in the National League, and the Rays in the American League, the only possible postseason matchup the teams can have is in the World Series, though this has never happened. Both teams have had appearances in the Fall Classic, however. The Marlins have won both of their World Series appearances in 1997 and 2003, while the Rays lost both of their appearances in 2008 and 2020.
Former Rays manager Joe Maddon said he did not consider the Citrus Series a true rivalry. "I really don't honestly believe the fans see it as being a rivalry, I really don't. The best way to get that done is to include us in the same league or the same division. That might stir something up."[7][8]
Weeks after the Marlins concluded a characteristic fire sale that brought in less expensive players such as Yunel Escobar from the Toronto Blue Jays, the Marlins traded Escobar to the Rays for minor leaguer Derek Dietrich.[9]
Prior to 2013, six games were always played, with the exception of 1998 (four games) and 2003 (three games in Miami). In 2013–2022, the two teams play each other four times each season except during seasons in which the interleague schedule division rotation matched up the teams' two divisions, six games are played between them. In 2023 all MLB teams started playing each other annually. The teams played four games each in 2023 and 2024 and will play six games in 2025.
Season-by-season results
edit| Miami Marlins vs. Tampa Bay Rays Season-by-Season Results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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1990s (Marlins, 8–2)
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2000s ((Devil) Rays, 29–28)
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2010s (Rays, 30–20)
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2020s (Rays, 20–4)
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Summary of Results
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Note: All information for scores come from Baseball Reference.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f "Head-to-Head Records — Florida Marlins and Miami Marlins vs. Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Tampa Bay Rays from 1997 to 2024". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
- ^ a b "mcubed.net : MLB : Series records : Miami Marlins against Tampa Bay Rays". mcubed.net. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
- ^ "Tampa Bay Devil Rays vs Florida Marlins Box Score: June 16, 2001". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
- ^ "Tampa Bay Rays vs Florida Marlins Box Score: May 22, 2009". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
- ^ Marlins History
- ^ Rays History
- ^ Chiang, Anthony (June 19, 2011). "Rays don't view Citrus Series as rivalry". MLB.com. Retrieved July 13, 2011.
- ^ Fennelly, Martin (June 19, 2011). "Some rivalry Citrus Series has become". Tampa Tribune. Archived from the original on October 9, 2012. Retrieved July 13, 2011.
- ^ "Marlins send Yunel Escobar to Rays". ESPN. Associated Press. December 5, 2012.