ST. PETERSBURG — Not long ago in a galaxy far across the Bay, Grand Admiral Kayven Cash led his band of Rebel Rays in a defense of Tropi’Cana from the scurrilous invaders from the Cana Da system.
The force proved to be strong in young pedowan Johnny “Debris” Field on Friday as the Rays toppled the Jays like a one-legged AT-AT walker, 6-2, in the first episode of their three-game trilogy.
“Our guys have that swagger right now,” Field said. “We feel good and are kind of feeding off each other right now.”
The Jays struck first against Andar Kittredge after Curtis the Grander Son led off the contest with a double off the wall and Josh Donaldson walked. Teoscar Hernandez flew out to the vast expanse of centerfield for the sacrifice to give the invaders from To Ronto the early advantage.
Field, who finished the day 3-for-4 with three extra base hits and two runs scored, spoiled Ja-Ba the Happ’s bid for domination with a 2-out solo blast in the third.
“He’s playing with a little bit of confidence,” Cash said. “And he should be. He’s having good at-bats. He jumped on the pitches that he liked but he also saw enough to recognize what he’s trying to accomplish.”
Southpaw R-2 Yarbrough, another Jedi-in-Training, led the Rays’ fleet of relievers with a five-inning, one-hit performance. He struck out four and walked none to pick up the victory.
“I just worried about going as far as they would let me today,” Yarbrough said.
RT for a chance to win this Star Wars KK set! https://t.co/rjNHxINv8a pic.twitter.com/yI4QApZMAv
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) May 4, 2018
The Rays’ rebellion would continue in the fourth after the Buffalo warrior, Wilson Ramos, deflected a phaser blast back where it came from for an RBI single. Field would lead the assault again in the bottom of the seventh with a double down the left field line and come in to score on a single by Aideny Hechavarria.
The Jays struck back in the eighth with a solo shot by Aledmys Diaz off Sergio Romo, the human-wookie hybrid, that seemed headed to the cloud city of Coruscant.
It would be futile, however, as the Rays put the photon torpedo in the exhaust vent in the bottom of the frame. Master Denard Span, senior member of the Jedi Council, singled. Brad Miller bulls-eyed a womprat of a slider from Tim Mayza to deep right-center to give the Rays a four run lead heading into the final frame.
UP NEXT
The Rays will send Jake Faria (2-1, 4.60 ERA) to the bump for game two of the series on Saturday at 6:10 p.m. ET. Faria is coming off a career-best eight inning shutout performance his last time out. The Jays will counter with fireballer Aaron Sanchez (2-2, 4.06 ERA). The first
