The real Hit Show? These Rays rank among majors’ most offensive

The Rays walk a lot, their 417 free passes ranking second most in the AL (and sixth overall), and their related .317 on-base percentage sixth best in the AL (tied for 14th overall).

But they don’t hit for much average, their .235 tied for 11th in the AL (and 22nd overall). They strike out a ton, leading the majors with 1,116, an average of nearly 10 per game. And they don’t hit well with runners in scoring position, their .240 average overall ranking 12th (and tied for 22nd) and their .222 with RISP and two outs 10th (and tied for 19th).

No team in modern major-league history has finished a season with the Rays’ 5.09 runs per game and as low of an average as they have.

So how have they done it?

By scoring big when they get to play outside the Trop, leading the majors in road runs, with 310, and ranking second (to the Giants) in home runs, with 81. At home they rank 11th with 260 runs and 18th with 66 homers.

By scoring in bunches, posting 10 or more runs 11 times (fifth most in the majors), including Friday and Saturday in Baltimore.

By having a mix of offensive weapons, with power (one of five teams to have at least three players with 20 homers; Brandon Lowe, Austin Meadows, Mike Zunino), experience (especially after adding Nelson Cruz), patience (Ji-Man Choi, Yandy Diaz), youth (led by Wander Franco) and a plethora of platoon advantages.

And, perhaps most distinctively, by scoring late, with 215 of those 571 runs — nearly 40 percent — coming from the seventh inning on.