Sunday, 4 a.m.
Suddenly, someone has plugged their bats back in. Suddenly, they have found the "on" switch to their offense.
The Tampa Bay Rays, suddenly, are a hitting machine.
And wouldn't it be nice if they could always beat up a baseball like this?
The Rays continued their hot streak Saturday night with an 8-2 bashing of the Seattle Mariners, a team that beat them six times a year ago. The Rays
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have now scored 39 runs in their six-game winning streak and have collected 61 hits.
Where to start?
-- How about Brandon Lowe, who hit two balls out of the park (in a three-pitch span) against left-hander Marco Gonzales? Lowe entered the game hitting just .200, but now has a five-game hitting streak.
-- Or maybe it was Manuel Margot (again), who had a grand slam in the eighth inning to open up the score. Margot has seven RBI's in his last two games. Margot has a six-game hitting streak.
-- Could it have been Wander Franco, who had his fifth three-hit game and scored on a nifty slide on a grounder by Randy Arozarena?
Either way, it was a comfortable win by the Rays and starting pitcher Drew Rasmussen, who went five innings and allowed just one earned run. He worked his way out of a one-out, bases loaded jam in the third and almost did it again in the fourth, giving up a run despite runners on second and third with no one out.
“That was really encouraging," Rays' manager Kevin Cash said. "Good for Brandon. I know he likes hitting home runs. We like it when he hits home runs. He got a pitch -- I believe it was a changeup-- and knocked it out of the park. He went up the next time and was ready for the fastball. Brandon had a big day.
“Manny is swinging the bat well. He’s seeing everything really well. He was ready for that pitch. I think when you get in a bases-loaded, no out situation, you want to drive the ball and get it up in the pair to avoid the double play."
The Rays go for a four-game sweep of the Mariners today at 4:10 p.m. in Seattle. Ryan Yarbrough will start for the Rays against George Kirby.