Monday, 4 a.m.
He didn’t star. He didn’t dazzle. For crying out loud, he didn’t even win.
What Aaron Civale did on Sunday afternoon was more important.
He stopped the bleeding.
Civale, a starting pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays, had struggled mightily as of late. The Rays had lost their last eight games in which he started and 10 of his previous 11.
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On Sunday, however, Civale stood toe-to-toe with the Pirates’ amazing rookie Paul Skenes for a 3-1 victory. Civale went five innings and allowed just three hits and one run.
Oh, Skenes was almost as good as advertised. He gave up five hits in his first three innings, but he went seven innings and allowed just one run. He struck out eight.
Yandy Diaz, surging as of late, led the game off with a home run on the first pitch of the game. He ended up with three hits and is now hitting .271. He has a 16-game hitting streak.
Diaz also had a leadoff single in the Rays’ two-run eighth. The Rays scored on a sacrifice fly by Randy Arozarena and a single by Richie Palacios.
The Rays got a strong day from its bullpen, where four pitchers threw four hitless, scoreless innings. Pete Fairbanks got his 11th save.
The Rays, 38-40, return home to Tropicana Field to face Seattle tonight at 6:50 p.m. Taj Bradley is scheduled to start for the Rays against Bryan Woo.