Span goes over the wall trying to make a catch./CARMEN MANDATO
Friday, 3 a.m.
He talks slowly. He works quickly.
Yet, somehow, it is the time of Blake Snell.
Snell, the 25-year-old left-hander of the Tampa Bay Rays, was solid again Thursday night. He threw a six scoreless innings of three-hit baseball, allowing the Rays to beat the Boston Red Sox 6-3. Snell struck out eight.
Span flops again to make a catch./CARMEN MANDATO
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Snell is rapidly becoming the Rays' best./CARMEN MANDATO
How good was Snell? He was good enough that you didn't quite notice what else was going on, such as Denard Span's wall-leaping attempts at chasing fly balls, or the 5-0 lead the Rays built after two innings. It was Snell's show.
Cron draws a walk in the first./CARMEN MANDATO
"Blake looked good early," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "He kind of set the tone the first at-bat against Mookie. In the fifth inning, he lost the command of the fastball. But it was a really, really good performance.
"He had about a 20-pitch window where he fell behind and tried to do too much. But it's hard to nitpick anything when you shut that lineup down for six innings."
Snell, too, liked the performance.
Miller had a sacrifice fly./CARMEN MANDATO
"The first four innings, I was very happy with," Snell said. "The last couple of innings, I was back to trying to place the ball in the corners instead of just pitching."
Wilson Ramos had three hits for the Rays, including a bases-loaded single that knocked in two. Both Span and Matt Duffy had two hits.
The Rays now return to their bullpen, with Sergio Romo scheduled to pitch for the Rays. The Orioles have not named their starter. Game time is 7:10 p.m. at Tropicana Field.
Duffy sneaks in for another Rays' run./CARMEN MANDATO
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