Morrison hit two home runs to lead the Rays./CARMON MANDATO
Monday, 3 a.m.
Well, welcome back, Logan Morrison. The Rays missed you.
Morrison, much of the reason for the Rays' earlier success, has spent the last three weeks being lost in the desert. Before Sunday, he had only one home run in his last 20 games, and he was hitting just .182 over his previous 18 games.
On Sunday, however, Morrison's bat rejoined the wild-card race. Morrison hit two solo homers, including one in the 10th inning, to key a 3-2 win by the Rays
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Archer pitched well in a no-decision./JEFFREY S. KING
to capture the series from the St. Louis Cardinals. Before Sunday, Morrison had only four home runs in his last 34 games.
“It was really good to see Lomo get going,” said Rays' manager Kevin Cash. “Maybe he's going to start adding on quickly.
“For three years, we've always talked about a guy trying to situate behind Longo and provide that protection,” said Rays' manager Kevin Cash. I know he's done that. You've got to worry about Evan and the guy hitting behind him. He's been really consistent.
Miller had a home run for the Rays./CARMEN MANDATO
He's had one little quiet spell the last couple of weeks, but other than that he's driven the ball really well for us.”
The Rays nosedived as Morrison and Corey Dickerson slid through the statistics. Now that LoMo is hitting again, it gives the Rays more hope in the wild-card race. They are currently three games back of the second wild-card berth.
After his home runs, Morrison tapped the name of his late father Tom on his sleeve.
“I don't really have the words for it,” Morison said. “He was awesome, the best dad anyone could ask for. I know he'd be proud of me. I wish I could talk with him now and share this moment with him.
“I've been through a lot of ups and downs. Downs, mainly. I got an opportunity with the Rays again.”
The Rays are 65-67 with 30 games to play.
Chris Archer pitched well for the Rays, allowing just one earned run in his seven
Colome had his 39th save for the Rays./CARMEN MANDATO
innings of work. But on the first batter after he was removed from the game, reliever Dan Jennings gave up a homer to Matt Carpenter to tie the game.
It brought back memories of the Rays' previous game, when the bullpen gave up four runs in the Cards' last two innings in a 6-4 loss. But this time, Steve Cishek and Sergio Romo threw shutout innings, and Alex Colome got his 39th save of the season.
The Rays had eight hits, including two each by Morrison and Kevin Kiermaier.
The Rays now travel to Kansas City. Austin Pruitt pitches the series opener against Ian Kennedy at 8:15 p.m. tonight.
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