For the first time in the second half of the season, the Tampa Bay Rays have won a series, beating the Colorado Rockies two games to one. In both of their wins the Rays had double digit run counts, giving fans some hope for the rest of the season. Here is the recap of the series!
Game 1
For the first game of the series, Drew Smyly took the mound for Tampa while Tyler Anderson was on the hill for the Rockies. In the top of the first, the Rays started out hot as Evan Longoria tripled which scored Kiermaier whom had walked. However, in the bottom of the first the Rockies tied it up from a RBI double by Carlos Gonzalez, scoring LeMaheiu who doubled as well. All was quiet until the bottom of the 4th where Smyly walked Raburn and Story. After the pair of walks, Reynolds had an RBI single scoring Raburn then Hudley hit a sac fly scoring story. Score 3-1. In the bottom of the 5th, Story homered scoring Gonzalez. Score 5-1. The Rays gained some ground in the top of the 7th from a triple by Beckham which scored Souza Jr., a single by Luke Maile that scored Beckham, and then a double from Nick Franklin that scored Maile. Score 5-4. In the bottom of the 8th, Descalso scored on a wild pitch by Dylan Floro. Then, an RBI single from Barnes scored Reynolds. Score 7-4. The Rockies took the first game of the series.
Rays:4 Rockies:7
WP: T. Anderson (2-3)
LP: D. Smyly (2-11)
S: C. Estevez (6)
Game 2
Before the start of the game, the Rays activated Steve Pearce from the disabled list and sent Nick Franklin down to triple-a Durham. Rookie Blake Snell took the hill for Tampa while Tyler Chatwood took the hill for Colorado. In the top of the 1st, Longoria had a RBI single that scored Forsythe who had doubled. In the top of the 3rd, the Rays were hot against Chatwood and gained five more runs. With his 2nd double of the night, Logan Forsythe grabbed an RBI scoring Arcia who walked. Next, Brad Miller had a RBI double that scored Forsythe. Then, Evan Longoria hit his 22nd home run of the year scoring Miller. The last run of the inning came from an RBI double by Kiermaier that scored Dickerson. The score going into the bottom of the 3rd was 6-0. Next inning, Miller had an RBI single scoring Arcia. The rest of the game was quiet until the top of the 9th where Corey Dickerson had a RBI double scoring Miller. Then in his return from the disabled list, Steve Pearce homered scoring Dickerson. The only run from the Colorado Rockies came from Trevor Story in the bottom of the 9th with a homerun.
Rays: 10 Rockies:1
WP: B. Snell (2-4)
LP: T. Chatwood (8-6)
S: M. Andriese (1)
Game 3
In the last game of the series, Chris Archer started for Tampa and De La Rosa for Colorado. In the top of the 1st, Longoria had an RBI double that scored Forsythe. In the bottom of the 2nd, Wolters had a sac fly that scored Descalso. Then, Blackmon flied out to right field which scored Reynolds. Score 2-1. Next inning Brandon Guyer scored on a groundout from Pearce. After that, Souza Jr. collected an RBI single that scored Longoria. Then, Tim Beckham had an RBI single that scored Souza Jr. Score 4-2. In the top of the 4th, Chris Archer walked and later scored on a double by Pearce. After that, Forsythe scored on a wild pitch from De La Rosa, Pearce advanced to 3rd. Souza Jr. then proceeded to collect his 2nd RBI single of the day scoring Pearce. As the inning was not yet over, Souza Jr. and Dickerson both scored on a fielding error by Trevor Story. Score 9-2. Then in the top of the 6th, former Rocky Dickerson tripled and then scored on a single by Tim Beckham. In the bottom of the 8th, Kevin Jepsen gave up a RBI single to Descalso that scored Carlos Gonzalez. In the top of the 9th, Forsythe collected an RBI single scoring Beckham. Rays won the game 11-3.
Rays: 11 Rockies: 3
WP: C. Archer (5-13)
LP: J. De La Rosa (6-7)
Probables vs Oakland Athletics
July 21- Moore (5-7) v Gray (4-8)
July 22- Odorizzi (4-5) v Hill (9-3)
July 23- Smyly (2-11) v Manaea (3-5)
July 24- Snell (2-4) v Graveman (6-6)
