Saturday, 4 a.m.
The season hasn't been as good as expected for the veterans of the Tampa Bay Rays.
On the other hand, the kids are all right.
The Rays, taking another step toward the future, rode its young talent to a 10-6 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. The Rays broke a four-game losing streak.
More importantly, the Rays did it with an eye of things to come. After a month of mediocrity, they gave fans a reason to come back to the ballpark coming down the stretch. The Rays started six rookies, who combined for 10 hits.
For instance:
-- Touted rookie Carson Williams made his major league debut something to remember. He had two hits, including a two-run homer in the seventh inning after the Cardinals had rallied from a 7-1 deficit to 7-6.
-- Jake Mangum, another rookie, had a four-hit night to improve his average to .283.
-- Yet another rookie, Chandler Simson, had two hits to improve his average to .304 and a stolen base.
-- Rookie Bob Seymour, who hit his first home run on Wednesday night. He had a run-scoring single on Friday.
-- Backup second baseman Tristan Gray had two hits and drove in two runs with a home run.
-- Junior Caminero -- still a rookie -- hit his 36th home run of the season.
It was the most runs the Rays have scored since an 11-1 win over Baltimore on July 18.
The Rays had 16 hits. Magnum had four. Simpson, Williams and Gray all had two. For the veterans, Brandon Lowe had his 22nd homer and Josh Lowe had three hits.
Adrian Houser went 6 1/3 innings and gave up six hits and four earned runs.
The Rays are off today. They play St. Louis again Sunday at 12:10 p.m. at Steinbrenner Field. Ryan Pepiot will start for the Rays against Matthew Liberatore.