Saturday, 4 a.m.
In the bedlam that is Randy Land, perhaps there is room for a suburb.
Call it Paredes Place.
Maybe Isaac Village.
After all, that’s where his home runs land.
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Paredes took over the first game of the high-powered matchup between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Texas Rangers Friday night. Parades knocked in a career-high six runs on a double and two home runs to lead the Rays to an 8-3 victory.
Parades now has 11 homers, 44 RBI and is hitting .270 on the season.
On Friday, he had three of the team’s eight hits and six of their eight RBI. The Rays also got run-scoring singles from Manuel Margot and Taylor Walls.
“We needed it,” said Rays’ manager Kevin Cash. “He had an overall very good day at the plate. He’s a really good player. He went quiet for a couple of days, but he’s so steady and so solid., He certainly fits us very well. His hands…his feet around third.”
His hits were timely, too. His double knocked in the first run of the game. His first homer gave the Rays a 4-1 lead. His second homer made it 6-1.
The Rangers, an offensive juggernaut this year, scored three runs, all on homers. Two of them came at the expense of reliever Luis Patino.
Apart for, that. however. The Rangers didn’t muster much. Glasnow gave up one hit in six innings, the first of two homers by Leody Taveras. It was Glasnow’s first victory of the season.
For Glasnow to control the Rangers so efficiently is no small feat. The Rangers are hitting .277 as a team, 30 points above the league average.
The Rays are now 47-19 on the season.
Today at 4:10 p.m., the Rays and Rangers will play again at Tropicana Field. Taj Bradley will start for the Rays against former Tampa Bay pitcher Nathan Eovaldi.