Entering the third week in May and coming off statement series win up in Boston, the Rays were finally showing signs of a complete team.
After taking 2-of-3 from the Red Sox including a massive 11-2 win on Mother’s Day, Tampa Bay went to Cleveland to take on the defending league champion Indians.
Cleveland
Rays Up:
Team bats came alive for 10 home runs over the three games, including five alone on Tuesday.
Corey Dickerson went 4-for-14 in the series, but three of those hits went out of the park, including two on Tuesday.
???? now can I get an encore, do ya want more ???? pic.twitter.com/uaud0TXyHH
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) May 17, 2017
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Rays Down:
Chris Archer took his second loss of the year on Monday after giving up a career-high six walks. Archer was charged with five runs in the first; seven overall in the only loss of the series.
Rays batters were struckout 40 times in Cleveland, including 14 on Monday alone, a game in which they also left 22 men on base.
Monday’s loss aside, the Rays came back to Tropicana Field after winning consecutive series for the first time since April 2-9 (Yankees, Blue Jays). Sitting one game short of .500, Tampa Bay came home to face the division leading New York Yankees.
New York
The powerhouse Yankees (24-14) came into the Trop after a series win against Kansas City, although going 3-4 the week leading up to the division battle. With an average attendance of 21,627 over the weekend, fans definitely got their monies worth.
Rays Up:
Archer, even credited the loss, struckout 12 batters on Sunday. Rays pitchers threw a total of 17 K’s in the 3-2 loss.
Dickerson had another multi-HR game on Saturday, one of which went 442-feet to the scoreboard behind the right field seats. By the end of the series, Dickerson had the league lead in hits with 59.
.@mcoreydickerson chats with @ACorddry about his 2-HR game in the @RaysBaseball victory over the Yankees on Saturday. #RaysUp pic.twitter.com/TZk3xt4xlZ
— FOX Sports Florida (@FOXSportsFL) May 21, 2017
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Bullpen was on point Sunday, with Danny Farquhar and Ryne Stanek going 1.2 combined, striking out two batters a piece and allowing zero hits.
Rays Down:
A second consecutive loss for Archer. Even though the Rays ace pitched well, just as he did in Cleveland, the team still came up short on Sunday sending Archer to 3-3 on the year.
Tampa Bay was struckout 33 times over the weekend. Not as bad as in Cleveland, but the team now has 484 strikeouts, which is the most in the majors by a margin of 72!
Again, even with the loss, the Rays won another series. This gave them 3-straight series wins, and reclaimed a record over .500 for the first time since April 22nd (even if it was only for one day). It was also the first time Tampa Bay won three consecutive series since June 2-16, 2016.
With the end of May approaching, the Rays are currently fourth in the league in home runs (63), first in walks (182), and sixth in team ERA (3.77).
Up Next:
On Monday night, the Angels of Anaheim come into St. Pete to take on the home team for a four-game set. Both teams are sitting at 23-23, and between Mike Trout and Dickerson, there could be a lot of balls going home with fans.
