Norris celebrates his second home run./CARMEN MANDATO
Friday, 4 a.m.
Now, perhaps more than ever, the Rays need to play the game by concentrating on one series at a time.
Norris led the Rays to their win over the White Sox./CARMEN MANDATO
Forget about the season. Forget about home stands and road trips. For the Rays, the road to survival is one series at a time. Now that the starting pitching has sputtered, now that the bullpen hasn't completely healed, now that gold glove center fielder Kevin Kiermaier might be missing for a while, that is more important than ever.
Of their last eight series, the Rays have won six and tied another. (Only the wipeout by Seattle has gone the wrong way). When you consider only one team (the Astros) are
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Odorizzi pitched well except for three pitches./CARMEN MANDATO
winning at more than a .667 pace, that will work.
The Rays beat the Chicago White Sox 7-5 Thursday night, taking a 6-0 lead and holding on.
Reliever Alex Colome picked up his 17th save by getting the last four outs of the night. Colome now has 54 saves over the season and a half, but he still seems to fly under the radar.
“I wish I had a good answer,” Rays' manager Kevin Cash said. “The guy is amazing. He shouldn't be flying under anyone's radar with the performances he's had over the last year and a half. He's found a niche. Saving games is not an easy thing to do. He's done it as good as anyone as anyone in baseball.”
Tampa Bay got off to a big lead after two home runs by Derek Norris. It was 6-0 going into the sixth.
Kiermaier may miss time after jamming his hip./CARMEN MANDATO
Chicago came back, however, getting a three-run homer from Avisail Garcia and a two-run shot from Todd Frazier.
Colby Rasmus hit a home run for the Rays' in the eighth to give Tampa Bay a two-run cushion.
Rasmus had come into the game to replace Keirmaier, who jammed his hip while sliding into first base.
“I was just trying to keep the inning going,” Kiermaier said. “I felt I had a good chance of beating (Jose) Abreu to the base. My right hip caught the ground and didn't feel too good. Once I tried walking, I knew I was going to have to come out of the game. It's pretty sore right now.”
Kiermaier will have further tests done today.
Jake Odorizzi got the win despite giving up three runs on three pitches.
A homer by Rasmus gave the Rays a two-run cushion./CARMEN MANDATO
Peter Bourjos had a home run and a single in his first game off the disabled list. He also threw a runner out at the plate on a wild play where Garcia doubled over Steven Souza, and Kevin Kiermaier's throw to the infield deflected off of Tim Beckham, and Beckham's throw to third went into the left field foul territory. Bourjos, backing up the play, threw home to get Garcia.
The Rays had four hits and four RBI from the 7-8-9 hitters.
“It starts with D-No, but then Bourjos who had a really big home run,” Cash said. “To be a good team, you have to have
Bourjos had a big night after returning from disabled list./CARMEN MANDATO
contributions throughout 1-through-9."
The Rays open a four-game series with Oakland tonight. Alex Cobb pitches against Andrew Triggs.
Souza went 0-for-4 at the plate to fall to .252./CARMEN MANDATO
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