d'Arnaud has come through in the clutch./TIM WIRT
Sunday, 4 a.m.
It's hard to imagine now, which makes it a perfect time to bring it up.
Do you remember when the world threw Travis d'Arnaud away?
Do you remember when the Mets cut him? Remember when the Dodgers didn't have a use for him. Remember when he was one of a revolving door of catchers for the Rays.
These days, he's one of a select handful of players who could be the team's MVP.
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Glasnow went three strong innings for Rays.JEFFREY S. KING
The case for d'Arnaud is a strong one. He's come up with big hits all summer as the Rays have hung around the race for the post-season. Oh, sure, there are other candidates. Austin Meadows and Charlie Morton, Eddie Pagan and Tommy Pham. But when you're talking about the player the Rays want to come to the plate with runners on base, d"Arnaud will get a lot of votes.
It happened again Saturday night, when d'Arnaud hit a bases-loaded triple in the sixth inning to lead the Rays to a 3-1 win over Anaheim. That kept the Rays within a half-game of Oakland in the wild-card race and 2 1/2 games ahead of Cleveland.
“We feel pretty good when Travis is hitting with men on base," said Rays' manager Kevin Cash, "He’s come up big for us all season long. There was no bigger situation than that. We had had to find a way to get one across, and we were fortunate and got three."
For the most part, the Rays shut down Anaheim. Michael Hermosillo scored the Angels' only run on a seventh-inning wild pitch.
Tyler Glasnow started for the Rays and went three innings, giving up only two hits.
“I thought he looked good," Cash said. "He made a big pitch there to end the third. We got him three ups. I’m guessing he’s going to say he had more in the tank, but we were good where we were at. Just another thing we’ve crossed."
The Rays play the Angels once again this afternoon in Anaheim. Ryan Yarbrough will pitch for Tampa Bay against Patrick Sandoval. The game begins at 4:07 p.m.
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