Yarbrough won despite giving up six runs./JEFFREY S. KING
Wednesday, 4 a.m.
On a dizzying day with disappointing returns, the Tampa Bay Rays at least won a baseball game.
Was it worth losing Chris Archer (and his salary)?
Was it worth losing Wilson Ramos (and his salary)?
Was it worth losing prospect Justin Williams (and his future)?
Perhaps not. It's for the Rays' fans to figure out if the promise of tomorrow was worth the outgoing talent of the day. But the Rays at least managed a
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Kiermaier slides in with a triple for the Rays./JEFFREY S. KING
10-6 win over the Angels that lifted the team above .500 (54-53) for the time being. That didn't mean the team is fine, and it didn't guarantee that the team will finish with a winning record.
For a day, however, everything worked out dandy.
Smith enjoys the moment after scoring./JEFFREY S. KING
Rookie Ryan Yarbrough won his 10th game of the season for the Rays despite giving up nine hits and six earned runs in just five innings. He's the first Ray to win despite surrendering a half-dozen runs since Jeremy Hellickson back in 2014.
“It’s kind of double-edged sword right there because we get a big lead like that early," Yarbrough said. "My main concern at that point is get as deep in the game as much as possible, especially when you get a nine-run lead like that.
"I wasn’t worried about giving up runs, giving up hits. Trying to attack
Bauers homered for the Rays./JEFFREY S. KING
hitters, that’s what I did. But at the same time, kind of leads to runs and it happens like that, but as long as the team wins, that’s all that matters.”
Cash gave credit to the Angels for their offense.
“I thought they had a pretty good approach against him," Cash said. "He left some balls over the middle. I saw a couple times he was trying to go in to righties and it leaked back. He couldn’t quite get the cutter and fastball as good as we’ve seen it. It was good enough. I really would have liked to see him get through that last inning, that would have helped us, but with the Trout home run. We’re not in a position where I want too many guys right now coming in with the game on the line because I don’t know if anyone is feeling too confident right now.”
Robertson is caught between first and second./JEFFREY S. KING
Matt Duffy and Mallex Smith both had three hits for the Rays. Carlos Gomez had two.
The Rays scored seven times in the fourth inning to take a 10-1 lead.
Tampa Bay fans may have been disappointed in the haul delivered by their players. Ramos, recently voted in as an all-star (an injury kept him from playing) only returned a player to be named later.
The return was better for Archer, who was swapped for Tyler Glast\now and outfielder Austin Meadows.
On of the oddest deals for a team that prizes prospects was to ship minor leaguer Justin Williams and pitcher Genesis Cabrera for St. Louis outfielder
Romo finished the game for the Rays./JEFFREY S. KING
Tommy Pham. It hardly seemed like the blueprint to how the Rays operate, since they value prospects over players. But both Williams and Cabrera would have to count toward their 40-man roster net year.
“It was a good win," Cash said. "We needed a win regardless of everything that’s taken place here over the last 24 hours. It was nice to see the guys respond. They continue to do that. It’s been a long day, but it finished in a good way with a win. The offense really came on strong, which was nice to see.
"Skaggs has a pretty good season so far, he’s done some good things. We had some really really good at-bats against him. Just kept moving the ball with guys in scoring position. It seemed like a lot of things went in our
Gomez had two hits for the Rays./JEFFREY S. KING
favor. As far as the pitching, we probably pitched just good enough. We haven’t quite got back on track, but it was a step in the right direction. Yarbs got hit a little bit. Diego, José, strike throwing a little bit of an issue, but I’d like to think it was better than what we saw over the weekend in Baltimore.”
Tonight, the Rays face the Angels again. Tyler Glasnow will pitch against Nick Tropeano at 7:10 p.m. at the Trop.
Catcher Michael Perez is hitting .500 so far./JEFFREY S. KING
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