Tuesday, 4 a.m.
Is Major League Baseball really going to have an All-Star game without Yandy Diaz?
And if those are the plans, can we please get a recount?
Diaz continued his hot season in Monday night's 10-5 victory over the Boston Red Sox, a team that is pretty good except when it is playing in the AL East (where they are 11-21).
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Diaz had three hits, scored three runs, drove in three, had a sacrifice fly and was hit by a pitch in the game. Overall, he is hitting .307 on the season. In his last 15 games, he's hitting .500 with 11 doubles, eight RBI and nine multi-hit games.
“He's on a really impressive run," said manager Kevin Cash. "And we are some kind of appreciative of what he’s doing for us, picking us up. He’s one of the few veterans who have some reps and some experience and he’s as hot as I can recall. He's getting big hit after big hit, having great at bats."
The Rays jumped out early, leading 2-0 after one inning and 5-1` after two. But the Red Sox got six hits and four runs in three innings against Josh Fleming to tie the game. Fleming left the game with an oblique injury, which means he is likely headed toward the injured list.
Luke Bard, however, just called up, calmed the game down with three innings. He allowed the tying run, but he got the game into the hands of relievers Colin Poche and Jason Adam, who combined for two shutout innings.
The Rays broke the 5-5 tie with two runs in the sixth and three in the eighth.
Diaz jokingly credited the way he taped his shoulder to his success.
“Let’s tape a couple of other guys," Cash said. "He’s hitting the ball really hard right now. He always hits it hard, but he's really stringing it together day after day, night after night."
The Rays, a half-game behind Boston in the AL East, will try to pass them in tonight's 7:10 p.m. game at Tropicana Field. Corey Kluber will start for the Rays against Chris Sale of Boston.