Power hitting Tampa Bays Rays lead MLB In stolen bases.

The Rays had only five hits against the Blue Jays on Thursday afternoon. Yet, they built a 6-1 lead after seven innings of what was a 6-3 victory.

Tampa Bay did not win by putting the ball over the fence, which the team has done 99 times through Friday to lead the majors. Rather, the Rays won because they went 7-for-7 in stolen bases and otherwise made heads-up base-running decisions.

More importantly, the Rays took advantage of five walks in three innings issued by Toronto starter Alek Manoah. They also cashed in on a throwing error by Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk. Indeed, they made their opponent pay for its sins, something that has consistently been the case this season.

“That’s what good offenses do,” said manager Kevin Cash. “When it’s presented, when there’s an opening, we have shown a knack for really taking advantage. It’s a constant carryover and that’s what we have done all season.”

Tampa Bay’s 66 stolen bases top the majors, along with 82 attempts. Their success rate is 80.4%. In May, the Rays are 41-for-48 for a rate of 85.4%. Through Friday’s 9-3 win over the visiting Dodgers, they were 28-for-30 (93.3%) over a 12-game stretch.

“There is no doubt baserunning has helped us a lot,” said Cash, whose team has five games of four-plus steals. “We anticipated our team speed would assist us in scoring runs, and it has. We have a handful of guys that have green lights and we will put some red lights on given the circumstance of the game.”

The seven stolen bases against Toronto marked the second time in nine games the Rays swiped as many bags. They were also 7-for-7 in a 10-inning loss to the Mets at Citi Field on May 17. For the record, the 1995 Houston Astros were the last team to have two games of seven-plus steals in a season. They also had seven in both instances.

Tampa Bay’s franchise record for stolen bases in a game is eight, which was against Boston at Tropicana Field in 2009. Paced by Carl Crawford’s team record 60, the Rays stole a team-record 194 bases that season. Through 53 games this year, the club was on pace for 202.

In both seven-steal games, Wander Franco and Taylor Walls each swiped a pair. Luke Raley also had two steals against the Blue Jays, one on the back end of a double steal with Walls and on the play Kirk uncorked an errant throw past third baseman Matt Chapman.

Indeed, when it comes to the offense, the Rays have displayed that they can get it done any which way.

“You’re going to have to find ways to win ballgames every now and then without slugging,” said Walls. “When the hits aren’t falling, you have to find a way to get some type of production.”

The Rays have six players with at least six stolen bases and three with at least 10. Franco leads the team with 18, in 23 attempts. Healthy after leg and hand injuries chopped his 2022 season in half, the 22-year-old shortstop entered this season 10-for-11 in stolen bases in 153 career games.

“That is probably one thing that I wasn’t totally prepared for, that he was going to be such a base-stealing threat,” said Cash. “For the most part, he has made a lot of good decisions, he gets real good jumps and his speed speaks for itself.”

Walls, who stole two bags against the Dodgers giving him consecutive games with a pair of thefts, has 13 on the season, good for second on the team behind Franco and three more than his total of a season ago. Josh Lowe has 10 stolen bases and three players, Randy Arozarena, Manny Margot and Luke Raley have six.

With six steals and 11 homers, Arozarena is on pace for his third straight 20-20 season. He was exactly 20-20 in 2021 and he hit 20 homers with a team-leading 32 stolen bases last season.

“This team is very versatile,” the 28-year-old left fielder said to reporters after Thursday’s game, through interpreter Manny Navarro. “A lot of guys can do a lot of different things.”

A lot of guys are doing a lot of different things in a lineup that leads MLB in on-base percentage (.347) and slugging percentage (.501) for an OPS of .848 that not only paces the majors, but is the only mark among the 32 teams of at least .800.

The MLB-leading 99 homers and 66 stolen bases really standout and underscore the lineup’s versatility. To think we are only at the one-third mark of the season.