This week the Rays traveled to Pittsburgh and Baltimore. Along the way were a few roster shake-ups, a couple extra-inning wins, and a life-saving umpire.
After dropping 2-of-3 to the Orioles at Tropicana Field, Tampa Bay went on the road for an 8-game trip. The week started out with a trade, as the Rays acquired shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria from the Miami Marlins. With Tim Beckham struggling in the field of late, the acquisition gave the Rays a good glove for the infield, and a good bat at the plate.
Hechavarria was activated in time for the first stop on the road trip.
Pittsburgh
Continuing their competition against the National League Central this season, the Rays went to PNC Park to take on the Pirates. Even though these teams rarely meet in the regular season, they do face each other many times during Spring Training.
The games were overshadowed by a story of courage from…of all people…an umpire.
Why We Love Sports Today: John Tumpane received a standing ovation before Thursday’s game for saving a woman’s life. https://t.co/nFE75UEtck
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 30, 2017
Rays Up:
Alex Cobb pitched an absolute gem on Tuesday. Allowing only two hits through 8.0 scoreless innings, Cobb would not get the decision after being pulled before the ninth. For Cobb, although he only recorded four strikeouts, it was his longest outing of the season thus far, and the second time he held the opponent scoreless.
.@Acobb53 was in vintage form last night.#RaysUp pic.twitter.com/cpgePb5eBH
— Vote #GoLoMo (@RaysBaseball) June 28, 2017
The Rays were able to pull out a extra-inning win on Tuesday with the help of new additions Wilson Ramos and Hechavarria, who both drove in a run in the 10th. Tommy Hunter pitched a perfect bottom half of the 10th to lock down his first save on the year.
Rays Down:
The Rays, who went into the week second in home runs across all of MLB, did not hit a single one while in Pittsburgh. In fact, the Rays only collected 25 hits in total over the three games.
Blake Snell made his return to the team Wednesday after some time with triple-A Durham. Sent down on Mother’s Day, Snell’s struggles continued at the big league level. Moving to 0-5 on the year, Snell allowed six runs on only four hits, while walking five. The plus side; he did strike out six Pittsburgh batters.
Aside from the series opening win, Tampa Bay would go on to lose the other two games, giving them back to back series losses for the first time since early May.
For more on the Pirates series, click here.
Baltimore
Without a day off, the Rays flew to Maryland for a weekend series against the Orioles, who had just visited Tropicana Field last weekend. With a record against Baltimore of 2-4 on the season, Tampa Bay was hoping for a shift against the division rival. And they got it.
Rays Up:
The home run machine that is the Rays was turned on for the weekend. In total, Tampa Bay hit seven homers over the three games, taking them to an astounding 128 for the season. It’s just the Rays though. All 30 teams combined for the most home runs hit before July, with over 1,100!
Logan Morrison hit two homers on Saturday, taking his total to a career-high 24. And there are still 80 games to play. Both Ramos (2) and Steven Souza Jr. (16) hit two over the weekend. For Ramos, it was his first homers with the team.
For Souza, his 3-run shot in the 10th on Friday not only won the game, but it was his first go-ahead home run in extras in his career.
Here’s the swing that won it, courtesy of @SouzaJr!#RaysWin! pic.twitter.com/Sl8zEFTUun
— Vote #GoLoMo (@RaysBaseball) July 1, 2017
Oh, and the Rays went back-to-back…again. With the franchise record already in hand this season, Tampa Bay took the total to 11. So far.
Four of those seven home runs came on Saturday, when the Rays put a double-digit score on the board, winning 10-3. This comes just a week after the Rays put up 15 on the Orioles when they visited St. Pete. 10 runs was plenty of run support for Jake Odorizzi (5-3), who had been struggling of late.
Making his season debut Friday, Brad Boxberger pitched a perfect eighth inning, striking out the side with only 13 pitches.
Rays Down:
Cobb moved to 6-6 on the year after allowing seven runs on Sunday, including two home runs, over 6.1 innings. The Rays lacked any kind of support whatsoever, scoring only one run.
Over the series, the Tampa Bay batters were struck out a combined 30 times, whereas Baltimore totaled 20. The Rays lead all of Major League Baseball with 821 strikeouts; a number that must improve if the Rays want to push for the postseason.
Opposite of that, they are also fourth in walks across MLB. But leaving 44 men on base means that’s 44 scoring opportunities lost in just three games.
On Sunday, Kevin Cash made the injury report, fracturing his ankle while running before the game.
Just one injury update for today. pic.twitter.com/NO0GxjdmCf
— Vote #GoLoMo (@RaysBaseball) July 2, 2017
The upside is, Tampa Bay took 2-of-3 from Baltimore at Camden Yards, their first series win against the Orioles on the season. Moving to 4-5 against them this year, the Rays moved to 43-41 just passed the halfway point, holding on tight to the third spot in the division.
Transactions
Tampa Bay made numerous roster moves this week.
Catcher Derek Norris was officially released to start the week. Pitchers Austin Pruitt and Jose Alvarado were sent to Durham, while Danny Farquhar was designated for assignment. As mentioned earlier, Boxberger was activated, as was recent trade acquisition Hechavarria. Adam Kolarek was brought up from Durham when Pruitt and Alvarado went down.
The #Rays have made the following roster moves: pic.twitter.com/sKQlwxGEzB
— Vote #GoLoMo (@RaysBaseball) June 28, 2017
The Rays also signed their fourth overall draft pick Brenden McKay, something that many were skeptical would even happen.
Oh yeah, Corey Dickerson, who is top five in almost every batting category available, was selected to the 2017 American League All-Star Team…
Introducing the starting DH for your 2017 American League All-Star Team: Corey Dickerson!
Thank you to everyone for your support! pic.twitter.com/uGf3zpWLxh
— Vote #GoLoMo (@RaysBaseball) July 2, 2017
Coming Up
After a travel day off on Monday, the Rays will celebrate the 4th of July at the friendly confines of Wrigley Field. Facing former skipper Joe Maddon for the first time, Tampa Bay plays two against the Cubs to round out the road trip. Should be an interesting match-up, since Maddon has ended up with several former Rays as well, including Ben Zobrist and Wade Davis.
Without skipping a beat, the Rays return home for a four game series against current division leader Boston. This will be an important series, as the Red Sox currently have a three game lead in the A.L. East, and a five game lead over Tampa Bay.
