Blake Snell walked four, but he allowed only one unearned run.
Wednesday, 5 a.m.
Over the years, we have seen plenty of pitching from the Tampa Bay Rays.
Most of that time, you have also seen terrific defense.
Every now and then, you've seen excellent baserunning.
But have you ever seen offense like this from the Rays? Ever?
The Rays clobbered the San Diego Padres Tuesday night, hitting five home runs in an easy 15-1 victory over the San Diego Padres. It continued a torrid offense by the Rays. Tampa Bay has now scored 35 runs over their last three games, and they've scored 66 runs in their last seven victories. Since the all-star break, the Rays are 15-15, and have scored 52 more runs than they've allowed, the biggest margin in the American League.
The Rays had 16 hits in this game, and 39 over their last games. Evan Longoria, Nick Franklin and Luke Maile each had
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Miller hit two more home runs for the Rays.
three hits while Brad Miller, Matt Duffy and Logan Morrison all had two. Both of Miller's hits were home runs, giving him 24 for the season.
“What an offensive show we put on tonight,” said manager Kevin Cash. “That was fun to sit there and be a part of. Everybody, again, played a part. Lot of home runs and lot of good at-bats, hard contact. For the most part, the guys have gone up there and been aggressive with their approaches. We’ve just got guys that are seeing the ball really well right now.”
Said Miller: “It was awesome. We hit a ton of balls hard—even a lot of outs, they made some good plays on some balls. A lot of fun. I like how we kept it going. Nobody gave away at-bats.”
Luke Maile drove in four run
Rays' pitcher Blake Snell walked four in five innings, but he allowed only one earned run. He has now allowed two earned runs or less in seven straight outings. His record is now 4-5 on the season.
“There’s a lot more to do and a lot more to work on,” Snell said. “I just need to be more aggressive and trust my stuff more. I felt like I get ahead, do what I want to do, then let the hitter get back to even or 3-2. So it was frustrating, but definitely a lot to learn from."
Cash said he wants to see better control from Snell.
"I thought Blake did some good things,” Cash said. “He did some things that were maybe not so good. But we all know he’s learning on the job a little bit right now. Pitching with a 7-0 lead in not always as easy as people make it out to be. The last thing you want to do is just lay pitches in there where guys are taking big hacks off you. But obviously Blake, with the command, has to get the ball in the zone a little bit more.”
Shortstop Duffy left the game in the third inning with a sore Achilles' heel.
“Running out the swinging bunt, and then immediate going first-to-home afterwards ... it just got a little more sore than usual,” Duffy said. “(It's better to) be safe than sorry. I’m not a big fan of coming out of games but I’m not going to fight him on something like that. It was probably a smart move. I’m the stubborn one, for sure.”
The Rays' 15 runs were their most since April of 2014.
Tampa Bay plays today in an attempt to sweep the Padres. Chris Archer (6-16) pitches against Christian Friedrich.
Dickerson makes a sliding catch in left field.
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