Adames had a single, double and homer./CHUCK MULLER
Friday, 4 a.m.
There for a while, Ryan Yarbrough had the look of yesterday's hero.
Turns out, he has a tomorrow, too.
Yarbrough, who won 16 games a year ago, marked his return from the minor leagues with a dominating performance in Thursday night's 7-2 victory over Cleveland. He spread four hits over his 7 1/3 innings and walked only one in highlighting a comfortable win for the Rays. Tampa Bay had four home runs in the victory.
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Yarbrough made his return from the minors count./JEFFREY S. KING"It was great to see Yarbs come back from the work he had put in in Durham to get back up here," said Rays' manager Kevin Cash. "We all knew it was just a matter of time.
He was just impressive. He got back in the zone and attacked a little more. The last time we saw him, he was picking off edges here and there. Putting himself in some bad counts. He had the same thought process, the same sequencing. He just committed more to the strike zone."
The Rays took a 2-0 lead in the first on homers by Tommy Pham and Avi Garcia. Willy Adames added a home run in the second on his three-for-four night. Pham also had three hits.
Kevin Kiermaier had the Rays' first inside-the-park homer when Oscar Mercado and Leonys Martin collided.
The Rays won a big game for the second straight day with an opener. This time, it was Yarbrough.
“He was outstanding," Cash said. "We needed a boost. We got aggressive with the bullpen (the game before). I don't think we were anticipating he would get that deep, but he did and he was outstanding."
Adames is hitting .321 in May.
"Willy had a great game," Cash said. "He had a lot of energy. He knocked the cover off the ball a couple of times. It's his time to go. I told him 'Go ahead if you want and carry us for a little white.' "
The Rays will start Blake Snell tonight at 7:10 p.m. Cleveland will start Shane Bieber.
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