Saturday, 3 a.m.
For the Tampa Bay Rays, going left was all right Friday night.
The Rays became the first team in MLB history to bat nine left-handed hitters in their starting lineup, and it seemed to invigorate the lineup. The Rays snapped a three-game losing streak, their second-longest of the year, with an 11-1 mashing of the Boston Red Sox.
The Rays, who had scuffled offensively for several games, broke out with 12 hits, two of them home runs by Nate Lowe. Yoshi Tsutsugo also homered.
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"A lot of people contributed, highlighted by Nate’s two home runs," said Rays' manager Kevin Cash. "Just a lot of good at bats, so that was encouraging. Something that hopefully we can continue to build off of.
"We know Nate has a chance to really do some damage when he steps into the batter’s box. As much as anything, it’s finding consistent reps for him. We recognize that. Today, he got a couple of pitches he could handle and didn't miss them. Go ahead and get hot. We’ll take anyone getting hot right now.”
Blake Snell was in control in his five innings of work, giving up only five hits and no runs. Still, he wasn't happy.
"I've got to do a better job of getting those outs," Snell said. "It was a frustrating night for me. There is a lot I need to do to be better.
“Threre were a lot of deep at bats I should have ended a lot sooner. I missed a lot of baseballs up. That was frustating for me. I was just frustrated with how my game went. There were a lot of wasted pitches that shouldn’t have happened. I need to be better at putting batters away.
Lowe, who was hitting just .071 coming into the night, had three hits.
The Rays play against the Red Sox again today at 6:40 p.m. at Tropicana Field. Tyler Glasnow is scheduled to start for the Rays.