Yesterday’s off day following five straight wins wasn’t enough to slow down the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday night in Kansas City. The offense remained hot putting up a ten spot on the Royals as the Rays rolled to their sixth consecutive victory.
The Rays trailed early in this one as Griffin Jax surrendered a first inning homer to Carter Jensen. The solo shot, his twelfth of the year, gave the Royals a 1-0 lead. However, the Rays answered in a big way in the top of the third.
Leading off the third, Nick Fortes dropped a bunt down the third base line and reach second on a throwing error by Nick Loftin. Yandy Diaz walked and Aranda quickly followed with a RBI single to tie the game at 1-1. With runners at the corners and nobody out, the red-hot Junior Caminero sent a long fly ball over the wall in left field to give the Rays a 4-1 lead. The blast marked his 23rd of the year and it was his fifth consecutive game with a homer.
The Rays weren’t done. The very next pitch delivered by Royals starter Noah Cameron was ambushed and deposited in the seats in left center. The homer was Vilade’s sixth of the year and gave the Rays a 5-1 lead. Then DeLuca and Simpson singled. Deluca later scored on a RBI single by Ben Williamson and the Rays would end the inning with a 6-1 lead.
The six runs were all they needed tonight, but you would be foolish to turn down insurance runs. They tacked a pair of runs in both the fifth and sixth innings. Fortes drove home both runs on a single in the fifth inning and the sixth inning was, to put it lightly, a disaster for Royals pitching.
The Rays worked six walks in the sixth inning, though one was negated by a double play. Following the double play, Eric Cerantola walked five consecutive batters and allowed a run to score via a wild pitch. He walked in the other run.
On the night, the Rays totaled 10 hits, walked 11 times and only struck out twice. All 11 walks were issued in the first 5.2 innings.
Contrary to the Royals staff, Jax and the pen walked only one batter tonight and struck out seven. Jax did the heavy lifting, turning in what might be his best line of the season. Across six innings he allowed three runs on five hits, struck out five and walked none. He earned the win and gave way to Booser, Sulser, and Kimbrel. Suler allowed the only other run to score in the eighth.
Lastly, for those watching the standings in late June, the Yankees dropped their sixth straight and fell to 2/5 games back of the Rays in the division. The Rays are now four games up in the loss column on the Yankees. With a record of 49-33 , the Rays will look to continue their hot streak on Wednesday night with Shane McClanahan taking the ball after being given some extra days of rest. He will look to get back in a groove opposite Seth Lugo.
