Five hours and eight minutes. That’s the time of some Yankee/Red Sox games, however, that’s how long it took to play TWO games at the Trop today.
ST. PETERSBURG — Today was a long day. Not as long as expected, but long nonetheless. But if watching two baseball games is the hardest part of my day, well, I think I’m doing alright.
Game One
The Rays five game win streak came to an end in game one of the doubleheader as the Orioles pulled off a 4-2 victory.
Trevor Richards started for the Rays and pitched well. The only runs he allowed were a two-run homer off the bat of Rio Ruiz, which tied the game at two at the time. Richards ended up going five innings – striking out five – while walking none.
“I thought he threw the ball really, really well,” Kevin Cash said about his starters outing. “Gave up the two-run homer. But we’ve got to be able to combat that and put enough runs on the board.”
Richards is 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA in 16.2 innings since joining the Rays.
The Rays got their two runs from – let me know if you’ve read this before – a two-run homer from Travis d’Arnaud. It was his 16th of the season, tying a career high. It was also his 57th and 58th RBI, passing his previous career high of 57.
“I was just sitting on an off-speed pitch,” d’Arnaud said when talking about his fourth inning homer. ” Just happened to because the first at bat he got me to ground into a double play and I figured he’d try to catch me cheating or out in front of that.”
And yes, smoothies were once again made by Tommy Pham, who ended game one with two hits of his own.
Game two
The Rays salvaged the day with a win in the second game of the doubleheader. Seven pitchers combined to shutout the Orioles in a 2-0 victory. This was the 10th shutout of the season for Rays pitching.
“Good bounce-back win. Long day obviously,” Cash said after game two. “I think the story obviously was the bullpen – the usage, the way those guys matched up, lined everything up. Really impressed by Jalen Beeks‘ performance and Diego Castillo. I think that’s the best Diego has looked since the first two months of the season.”
Beeks went two innings allowing two hits and striking out one. Meanwhile Castillo – who was credited with the win – also threw two innings while facing the minimum and striking out three batters. According to statcast, Castillo’s fastball topped out at 100 mph tonight.
Austin Meadows got the scoring started with a solo home run in the 4th inning, the 26th of the season for him.
“He’s having an impressive season,” Cash continued to say after the game. “We’re fortunate when we acquires him and Glasnow. What he’s done, what he’s meant for our offense, he’s basically sat right in the middle of our offense. He’s an consistent as anybody on our team.”
Up Next
With an off day on Wednesday now, the Rays host the Toronto Blue Jays for a four game series. Cash announced that Austin Pruitt (2-0; 4.78) will open on Thursday taking on rookie right-hander Trent Thornton (4-9; 5.34).
