ARLINGTON, Texas — One more giant to slay.

The Rays rode the third-lowest (or 28th-highest) payroll in baseball all the way to the World Series. They outlasted the Yankees (No. 1) in the American League Division Series. Then they withstood a crazy comeback from the Astros (No. 4) in the AL Championship Series.

In order to capture the first Commissioner’s Trophy in their 23-year history, the Rays must solve the Dodgers, owners of the second-highest payroll as well as the best record overall.

“I think for us, we know that we can play with anybody. We know that we have as good talent as anybody else regardless of payroll,” Rays outfielder Austin Meadows said Monday at Globe Life Field. “We’ve shown that all year.”

For sure, with the best regular-season record in the American League, the Rays hardly snuck in here through some expanded-playoff backdoor. To the contrary, securing the top seed didn’t get them the usual bye out of the wild-card round (they swept the Blue Jays), and after eliminating the Yankees, they had to take on an Astros club that woke up after a 29-31 regular season.

The Rays speak with pride about the way they do things. Center fielder Kevin Kiermaier, who said he’ll be good to go after missing time in the ALCS with a left hand contusion, proclaimed, “We want to finish this the right way, our way,” and for the Rays, that means deploying their roster depth and versatility to rarely post the same starting lineup, or not necessarily to go to the same guy for the save, or lift a starting pitcher with a low pitch count because their data informs them it’s time for a change.

“We think what we’re doing is maximizing our roster the best we can,” manager Kevin Cash said. “There’s not much odd about that.”

Cash posited that he didn’t believe he and his players used the payroll disparity as fuel. Rather, “It’s the talent of the rosters we’ve gone up against. … I think you take it as, we’ve been fortunate enough to get through three good clubs. We’re going to be challenged here for the fourth.”