Sunday, 4 a.m.
If you are not yet surprised by the power surge of Jose Siri, the unknown slugger, then consider this:
Siri has 18 home runs this year.
Siri has 18 singles.
Siri opened the second half of the season for the Rays by doing a lot of jogging around the bases. He hit two solo homers to lead the Rays to a 6-1 first-game win over the Kanas City Royals.
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The Rays also won the second game, 4-2. It was the eighth time in Rays history the team has swept a doubleheader.
The Ray's first game was highlighted by Siri, the centerfielder who plays with a certain flair.
The muscle in Siri's game ranks as one of the team's biggest surprises. Siri is a lifetime .222 hitter who had never hit more than seven homers. in a season. This year, however, he is leading the team with 18 homers (and seven other extra base hits).
The Rays were ragged for most of the afternoon, striking out 13 times against Alec Marsh, who was making the third start of his career.
The Rays led 2-1 going into the eighth inning, but Royals' reliever Collin Snider walked the first three batters (on 12 pitches) to start the inning. Luke Raley's two-run single helped the Rays break it open.
The Royals' only run was a home run by Bobby Witt, Jr. Salvador Perez seemed to follow that with another homer, but a fan was called for interfering with the baseball, holding Perez to a double.
Tyler Glasnow (3-3) got the win for the Rays.
In the second game, the Rays trailed 2-1 going into the seventh inning, but once again, Tampa Bay took advantage of the Royals' bullpen. Cole Ragans hasn't started much for the Royals, but he limited the Rays to four hits through five innings.
The Rays seemed as if they were going to leave the victory at third base. In the sixth, Randy Arozarena tripled with one out, but the Royals got out of the inning. In the seventh, Josh Lowe tied the game with a no-out triple, but he didn't score, either.
In the eighth, however, Harold Ramirez' awareness led to,the go-ahead run for the Rays. He singled. But when Arozarena flied out to deep center, Ramirez tagged up and took second. He scored when Luke Raley singled on a 101-mile-an-hour pitch.
For the day, Raley had four hits and three RBI in the two games.
The Rays are now 60-35 on the season.
The Rays close out their series against Kansas City today at 2:10. p.m. Zach Eflin will start for the Rays against Brady Singer.