Saturday, 4 a.m.
When the Tampa Bay Rays are going well, there are plenty of players to grab the headlines. In those days, no one pays much attention to the bottom of the Rays’ batting order.
When the road turns rocky, however, they can look like a black hole, the place where rallies go to die. There are nights you cannot wait for the Rays to get back to the top of the order.
Then there are nights like Friday night, when the bottom of the Rays’ batting order looked like Murderer’s Row.
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The Rays’ “other” players highlighted Friday night’s 11-3 victory over Kansas City. The Rays collected 17 hits and 11 runs in the win.
— Jose Siri, who came into the game hitting .227, had three hits and drove in four runs. He hit his 13th homer of the season.
— Taylor Walls, hitting .206 when the game began, had a single and a double and drove in two runs.
— Christian Bethancourt, hitting .228, had two hits and drove in a run.
They weren’t all of the Rays’ offense. Josh Lowe, whose average has fallen from .304 to .278 in June, had three hits. Harold Ramirez and Manny Margot each had two hits.
Rays’ pitcher Zach Eflin wasn’t sharp, giving up two home runs in the first three innings. But he settled down and went seven innings for his ninth win of the season.
The Rays and Royals play the third game of their four-game series today at 4:10 p.m. at Tropicana Field. The Rays have not announced a starter. The Royals will start Jordan Lyles (who is 0-11).