Thursday, 4 a.m.
When the game matters the most, who do you want to have a bat in his hand?
Yeah, yeah. Yandy Diaz had a lousy start to the season. He is still hitting only .253. There have been a lot of days he hasn’t looked anything like he did a year ago, when he won the AL batting title.
On the other hand, who would you prefer?
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Diaz, remember, is hitting .321 in his last 11 games. That includes Wednesday night, when he knocked in the winning runs in the Rays’ 4-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox. Diaz was hitting .211 on May 3.
Jose Siri also had two hits for the Rays.
The Rays hadn't done much offensively against Tanner Houck until the sixth. Richie Palacios and Jose Caballero singled. Siri singled to tie the game and Palcios and Caballero pulled off a double steal, and Diaz singled on the next pitch.
The game was won, however, by the Rays’ bullpen. After Taj Bradley gave up two runs in five innings, the bullpen of Phil Maton, Shawn Armstrong, Pete Fairbanks and Kevin Kelly held the Sox to one run and four hits. In particular, Fairbanks looked solid in the eighth inning, striking out two. Kelly earned his first save of the season.
The Rays wrap up their four-game series with Boston tonight at 7:10 p.m. at Fenway Park. Zack Littell will start for the Rays against Cooper Criswell.