Faria was at his best against Tigers./CARMEN MANDATO
Tuesday, 2 a.m.
Whee!
It's another streak.
Actually, this one is just a baby. One game old. But after an eight-game streak was snapped Sunday in a loss to the Red Sox, any streak at all will do. Right?
The Rays won an odd game Monday night. Jake Faria battled Detroit pitchers to a 0-0 tie going into the ninth. The Rays took a 3-0 lead on
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a homer by Brad Miller, a nine-pitch walk to Denard Span and a two-run homer by C.J. Cron.
Cron hit his seventh home run of the season./CARMEN MANDATO
Still, it was all the Rays could do to shut the door on a 3-2 victory. The Tigers made a game of it by scoring twice against relievers Chaz Roe and Jose Alvarado (closer Alex Colome was unavailable) and loading the bases.
"Trying to get three outs,'' manager Kevin Cash said. "I think it's kind of telling: We talk about Alex a lot, and I know he hasn't gotten off to the greatest start, but
Miller hit a solo home run for the Rays./CARMEN MANDATO
there's something to be said for getting three outs in the ninth inning. That gets overlooked quite a bit.''
The Rays squeezed out their win with just four hits. But that seemed to be plenty for Faria, who allowed only three. Faria said that he had command of all three of his pitches.
"When everything works, that's a really fun day," Faria said.
Cash, who was running low on bullpen arms, appreciated the effort.
"He was pretty locked in," Rays' manager Kevin Cash said. "When Jake establishes the fastball early, and he can drop in his breaking ball, he has a chance to have a special night like he did tonight."
The Rays are now 13-14 on the season.
Tampa Bay plays Detroit again tonight when Chris Archer pitches against Matthew Boyd. The game begins at 7:10 p.m.
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