For those of you who wondered if the Tampa Bay Rays might ever win again, there is a burst of good news.
After finally escaping from Boston, the Rays thumped the Toronto Blue Jays, 7-1, to end their five-game losing streak.
It was a welcome relief after a nightmarish week. All-Star Nick Martinez pitched for the first time since the break and went six innings of one-run baseball. Martinez is now 9-2 on the season.
Caminero had three hits./KIM HUKARI
Junior Caminero had a strong game, going three-for-four with two doubles, a walk and two RBI. Yandy Diaz, Nick Fortes and Taylor Walls all had two hits.
Victor Mesa Jr. homered for the third straight game. Fortes and Cedric Mullins also homered.
The Rays and Jays play again tonight at 7:07 at the Rogers Centre. Drew Rasmussen (7-5) will start for the Rays against Kevin Gausman (4-8).
The Tampa Bay Rays are going to leave skid marks getting out of Boston.
The Rays were drubbed again Sunday, losing 6-1 as the Boston Red Sox completed a sweep and extended their winning streak to 13 games. The Rays, meanwhile, have lost five in a row.
The sizzling Sox climbed within six games of the Rays in the AL East.
Boston scored three runs without a hit in the third inning. They combined two walks, an error a hit batter and a passed ball to build their lead.
The Rays led 1-0 in the second inning on an inside-the-park home run. For the most part, however, the Rays were punchless. They were 0-for-15 with runners in scoring position, the worst in franchise history. They left 11 men on base.
Shane McClanahan gave up four earned runs in five innings to fall to 8-6.
The Rays now go to Toronto to start a three-game series tonight at the Rogers Centre. Nick Martinez (8-2) will start for the rays against Dylan Cease.
Evidently, the Tampa Bay Rays weren't ready for baseball to resume Friday.
The Rays were clobbered in a doubleheader, losing 10-0 and 5-3 to the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.
The Sox, who have now won 11 games in a row, ran roughshod over the first-place Rays. On the day, the Rays gave up 15 runs and 22 hits. Boston had five home runs and four doubles in their games.
The second game was closer than the first. Jonny DeLuca had a two-run single and Junior Caminero hit his 29th home run.
But the Rays' pitching wasn't good enough. Wilyer Abreu had two home runs for Boston. Mason Englert started and gave up five runs in five innings.
Caminero had two hits in the nightcap.
The Rays' lead in the AL East is now down to 2 1/2 games.
The first game was even more lopsided. The Rays had only three hits in the lopsided loss.
Rays' starter Grifin Jax gave up seven earned runs in five innings and fell to 5-7.
The Red Sox had 15 hits, including three each by Caleb Durbin, Masataka Yoshida and Carlos Narvaez.
The Rays and Red Sox play again today at 4:10 p.m. at Fenway. Ian Seymour (6-2) will start for the Rays against Patrick Sandoval (0-0).
Monday, 4 a.m. The bats of the Tampa Bay Rays started their All-Star break a day early Sunday. For the most part, the Rays were lifeless at the plate, managing just four hits in an 8-2 loss to Seattle. Two of those hits didn’t come until the eighth inning. The Rays, from time to time, […]
Sunday, 4 a.m. It made sense. Of course it did. Only a moron would suggest it didn’t. But that’s the thing about the odds. Sometimes, they slap you in the face. Consider the bottom of the seventh in the Rays’ win over Seattle Saturday. The Rays led only 2-1, and Junior Caminero was at the […]
Saturday, 4 a.m. The Tampa Bay Rays, suddenly, have discovered the joy of baseball on the other side of the fence. The Rays, who have spent most of the season as the worst home-run hitting teams in the majors, launched four out of the park Friday night. They have now homered in 12 of their […]
Friday, 4 a.m. With a chance to pull further away in the AL East Thursday, the Tampa Bay Rays fell on their noses. The Rays were clobbered, 12-4, in a game where they simply could not calm down the Yankees. The Yanks hammered out 14 hits on the day, three of them home runs. Ben […]
Thursday, 4 a.m. The arms of the Tampa Bay Rays have rarely been better. Once again, the pitching staff of the Rays dominated the big-swingers of the powerful Yankees. The Rays completed their sixth shutout of the year in a 3-0 victory over the Yankees. The Rays have struck out 45 Yankee hitters in their […]
Wednesday, 4 a.m. So which team is the Bombers around here? The Tampa Bay Rays, among the major league teams that have hit the fewest home runs this season, beat the powerful New York Yankees at their own game Tuesday night. Even with their recent power surge, the Rays rank only 26th in the majors […]
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About Gary Shelton
• No one covers Tampa Bay like Gary Shelton.
• No one has seen as many moments, as many athletes, as many coaches as he has over the last quarter of a century.
• No one has won more awards, including two national Associated Press Sports Editors Best Columnist awards and eight top 10 finishes. He also just received his sixth Sportswriter of the Year award for Florida by the NSSA.
• No one has seen more big events, including 29 Super Bowls, 10 Olympics and 11 Final Fours. Gary still goes into the locker rooms to obtain his stories.
• No one has made you angrier, or laugh louder, or think harder about what he has written.
Now, he begins a website designed to keep him in touch with the readers who have grown up on his words.
