Paredes’ late homer leads Rays to victory

by Gary Shelton on April 29, 2023

in general

Saturday , 3 a.m.

Randy Arozarena kept one ball inside the park.

Isaac Paredes knocked another one out.

You can boil the reasons for the latest victory by the Tampa Bay Rays, a 3-2 comeback over the Chicago White Sox, to that. One defensive play made, one enemy fastball lost. And the Rays won for the 22nd time in 27 games.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Arozarena stole a home run from Jake Burger with a leaping catch in left field.



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And in the top of the ninth, the suddenly hot Paredes drove a home run over the same left field fence to provide the win. It was the fifth hit for Paredes in the last two nights, including three doubles and a home run. He's driven in six runs.

The Rays had two players leave during the game -- Yandy Diaz hurt his shoulder on a head-first slide into home in the first inning, and Pete Fairbanks left with one out in the ninth due to circulation problems in his hand. Both are expected to be okay.

Zach Eflin won to go 3-0, but it wasn't his sharpest outing. He gave up two solo homers and admitted he struggled to get a feel for his sinker.

The Rays stole a run in the first inning when Arozarena took second on a routine popup to shallow right. Second base wasn't covered, and Arozarena took the base. When a play was attempted, Diaz went from third to home.

Manuel Margot, who also had three hits, drove in Paredes with the second run.

The Rays play Chicago again tonight at 7:10 p.m. Yonny Diaz will start fpr the Rays against Lance Lynn.

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