The Tampa Bay Rays showed a national audience just what they have going on Thursday night.
In an 8-4 victory over the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, the Rays showed off their stars.
You've heard of Junior Caminero? That was him, launching a 449-foot home run ot clinch the victory. Caminero had two hits on the night.
How about Chandler Simpson? He didn't even start, but he drove in three runs with a single and a triple. He had two hits, too.
Simpson drove in three runs./KIM HUKARI
Then there was Yandy Diaz, who delivered his 1,000th hit. Yeah, he had two hits, too.
Jonny DeLuca had two hits. So did Ben Williamson.
It was enough for the Rays to win their seventh straight and their 13th win in 14 games.
The Rays gave up four runs, their most in 14 games. Considering that the Rays started Griffin Jax as the opener, followed by four relievers, it's permissable.
Hunter Bigge got his first win for the Rays.
The Rays and Red Sox play again tonight at 7:10 p.m. at Fenway. Jesse Scholtens will starat for the Rays against Connelly Early.
Turns out, the Tampa Bay Rays are going to need a bigger broom.
The Rays pulled off their second straight series sweep -- and their fifth of the season -- with a 3-0 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays at Tropicana Field.
It was another positive stride for Shane McClanahan, who had his third straight scoreless outing. McClanahan went 5 2/3 innings to improve to 4-2 on the season.
Four relief pitchers went 3 1/3 innings of shutout baseball, allowing just two more hits.
DeLuca drove in winning run./KIM HUKARI
The game was scoreless until the fourth inning when Jonny DeLuca doubled in Jonathan Aranda and Chandler Simpson singled in DeLuca.
In the eighth inning, the Rays added when Cedric Mullins scored on a throwing error.
The Rays have now won 12 in their last 13 games. They’ve thrown three shutouts. Their starters’ ERA is 1.38 and their bullpen ERA is 0.99.
The Rays now travel to Boston to play the Red Sox in a 7 p.m. game tonight at Fenway Park. Griffin Jax is scheduled to start for the Rays against Connelly Early.
He is not a regular hero. He just plays one every now and then.
Ben Williamson, the middle-infielder of the Tampa Bay Rays, snuck a single up the middle to drive his team to a 4-3 victory over Toronto at Tropicana Field Tuesday night.
It was the Rays' fifth straight win, and their 10th in the last 11 games. The Rays are 23-12 on the season.
Williamson, a .266 hitter, slapped a 2-1 pitch off Tyler Rogers to lead the comeback. It highlighted a two-run eighth that overcame a 3-2 deficit to win.
Jonathan Aranda started the uprising, doubling to left field with one out. Yandy Diaz then drove in pinch-runner Taylor Walls. After Jake Fraley singled, Williamson drove in the winning run.
The Jays leapt to a 2-0 lead when Kazuma Okamoto homered in the first and Andres Gimenez singled in Daulton Varsho.
The Rays came back to tie the game, Jonathan Aranda singled in Chandler Simpson in the third. In the fourth, Hunter Feduccia grounded into a double play to bring home another run.
Toronto went back ahead, 3-2, Yohendrick Pinango singled in Gimenez.
Simpson, Aranda, Fraley and Williamson all had two hits for the Rays.
Drew Rasmussen went six innings and allowed three earned runs. Casey Legumina got his first win for the Rays. Cole Susler had his second save.
The Rays and Jays play again today at 1:10 p.m. Shane McClanahan will start for the Rays against Patrick Corbin.
Are you bored yet? Are you tired of seeing win after win by these Tampa Bay Rays?
Of course not.
The Rays followed their recent formula again Monday night in a 5-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. They got stellar pitching (again) and enough hitting (again). They won their 10th game of their last 11. They got a spark from an unknown hero (again).
Ryan Vilade hit a three-run homer in the first, and Taylor Walls had a two-run single in the sixth to lead the offense.
Vilade, whose squeeze bunt helped the Rays' Sunday win, had just 40 at-bats on the year coming into the game. He had only one career home run in his major league career. But he drove the first pitch he saw on Sunday 413 feet into the left-field stands.
Nick Martinez won his third straight game, going five innings and allowing five hits and one unearned run. The Jays ended up with 10 hits themselves, but they were one-for-eight with runners in scoring position.
Jonathan Aranda, who had four hits on Sunday, added three more on Monday. Ben Williamson had two hits.
Bryan Baker closed out the game, earning his ninth save on just three pitches.
The Rays and Jays play again tonight at 6:40 p.m. at Tropicana Field. Drew Rasmussen will start for the Rays against Kevin Gausman.
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Monday, 3 a.m. He changes the scoreboard, that’s all. It should say that on Jonathan Aranda’s business card. Some players hit more home runs. Some steal more bases. Aranda? He drives in runs. When you boil the game of Jonathan Aranda down to its essence, it is this: He clears the bases. Aranda’s fourth hit […]
Sunday, 4 a.m. Given as how they are visiting Florida, perhaps the San Francisco Giants can take in some sights. You know, like home plate at Tropicana Field. The scoring woes of the Giants, baseball’s lowest scoring team, continued on Saturday night in a 5-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays have given […]
Saturday, 4 a.m. They live. At times, it looked shaky. At times, they looked as if they were staring into the off-season. And still, they survived. The Tampa Bay Lightning staved off elimination from the NHL playoffs Friday night, taking a 1-0 victory over Montreal in the Bell Centre. Gage Concalves tapped in a close […]
Saturday, 3 a.m. When they pitch, they compete. For the Tampa Bay Rays, it is as simple as that. On the nights their bullpen is weak, or their starting pitching does’t clock, they can be had. Ah, but when they pitch, the Rays are a pretty good baseball team. The Rays played their eighth straight […]
Thursday, 4 a.m. From here, you can see the end. From here if you are the Tampa Bay Lightning, you can see elimination. You can see the off-season. You can see … nothingness. After another close loss, the Tampa Bay Lightning is staring the end of their season, Montreal won Game five 3-2 and took […]
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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.
