Rays’ winning streak reaches six straight

by Gary Shelton on April 27, 2018 · 2 comments

in general

Cron hit another home run for Rays./CARMEN MANDATO

Cron hit another home run for Rays./CARMEN MANDATO

Friday, 3 a.m.

Just asking, but how do you spell "juggernaut?"

The suddenly lethal Tampa Bay Rays flexed their newfound muscles again Thursday night, winning their sixth straight game in a 9-5 beating of the Baltimore Orioles. It was the Rays' ninth win in their last 14 games.

How good has it been lately? It was the fifth straight game in which the Rays have scored at least eight runs,

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Archer had another tough start./CARMEN MANDATO

Archer had another tough start./CARMEN MANDATO

"Our offense is hot right now," Rays manager Kevin Cash said "It seems like we're not missing pitches. A lot of good things happened offensively again for us (Thursday). It's pretty exciting to sit back and watch how we're putting runs on the board when we were quiet in the early part of the year.''

How good has it been lately? The Rays won despite a shaky start by Chris Archer, who won to improve his record to 2-1. Archer gave up 11 hits in 5 1/3 innings and four earned runs.

"I thought Arch threw the ball well," Cash said. "Much better than his stat line."

Still, the Rays had 13 hits to run away from the Orioles. They built a 6-0 lead after three innings. It was 8-2 in the top of the fifth.

Ramos had three RBI for the Rays./CARMEN MANDATO

Ramos had three RBI for the Rays./CARMEN MANDATO

C.J. Cron hit his sixth home run. Carlos Gomez, Brad Miller, Daniel Robertson, Joey Wendle, Wilson Ramos and Mallex Smith all had two hits.

"Early on we were not getting our pitching we were going to get,'' Cash said. "Guys have kind of hit that reset button. We're getting some better starts. Things are starting to fall in line a little bit more with the bullpen. Offensively, everybody was hitting like .100 then and now I think everybody has kind of risen up.

Jose Alvarado threw another shutout inning./STEVE MUNCIE

Jose Alvarado threw another shutout inning./STEVE MUNCIE

"They should be playing with a lot of confidence now. They're doing a lot of things, other than scoring eight runs and pitching well. We're doing a lot of things defensively, little things on the bases that are allowing us to extend some innings and have the opportunity to add some runs.''

The Rays now travel to Boston to play three games against the Red Sox. Tonight's game is at 7:10. Blake Snell of the Rays opposes Drew Pomeranz.

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