Friday, 4 a.m.
The temptation is to declare them cured. After a night like this, how else can you see it?
The Tampa Bay Rays, the kings of swing-and-miss, scored nine runs Thursday night. They collected 10 hits and five walks. They had six extra base hits, including two home runs. They clobbered the Yankees, 9-1.
On the other hand, they struck out 16 times.
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Sixteen? How is that possible? That means the Rays -- who had eight innings in which they hit -- struck out twice an inning. Two-thirds of the outs they made Friday night came via the strikeout.
Coming into the game, the Rays had struck out a major-league-most 397 times. They were on pace for 1,692 strikeouts, which would be a major league record. The Rays have a majors-most 26 games of reaching double-digit strikeouts.
And, for once, it didn't matter.
The Rays didn't hit it often enough, but they hit it sharply against the Yankees Thursday night. Austin Meadows had a home run and two doubles, driving in four runs. Randy Arozarena had a three-run homer. Yandy Diaz had a two-run single.
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Meadows entered the game hitting just .192.
"Yandy put us on the board with a big hit," Rays' manager Kevin Cash said. "We just had a lot better at bats and big hits. We had some two-out RBI. It was good to see Randy get into one. Austin had a big night. Good for those guys. They’ve been wearing it and grinding through it. They deserve to have a night like this and feel better about themselves."
The Yankees' starting pitcher was the least impressive of any game of the series, but Jameson Taillon still struck out nine in his 4 2/3 innings of work.
Once again, the Rays had good pitching. This time, however, it wasn't overshadowed by the lack of hitting. Rich Hill went 6 2/3 shutout innings and allowed just three hits.
“He was outstanding," Cash said. "We’ve talked about the last three outings, now four. He’s been on a really good run. He changes his delivery a bit at times. He’s pitching to all quadrants. It's a very challenging lineup to go in and shut down.”
The Rays are now 20-19 on the season.
The Rays open a three-game series against the New York Mets tonight at Tropicana Field at 7:10 p.m. Tyler Glasnow will pitch for the Rays against David Peterson.