Wednesday, 4 a.m.
No one could blame you if you turned off the Tampa Bay Rays game early Tuesday night.
But aren't you glad you didn't?
The Rays, somehow, won for the fifth time in five games, coming from behind to beat the Washington Nationals 10-6. The Rays, for the first time this season, got horrible starting pitching, and their offense went into a dead zone in the middle innings.
Content beyond this point is for members only.
Already a member? To view the rest of this column, sign in using the handy "Sign In" button located in the upper right corner of the GarySheltonSports.com blog (it's at the far right of the navigation bar under Gary's photo). Not a member? It's easy to subscribe so you can view the rest of this column and all other premium content on GarySheltonSports.com.
Ah, but the ninth inning was one this team will talk about for a while.
Say hello to the new Bash Brothers, Luke Raley and Josh Lowe, who started the inning with back to back homers. (Lowe had called it before the game). Yandy Diaz added a three-run homer late in the inning.
Halfway through the game, no one would have predicted this. The Nationals got 16 hits, including 10 of them off starter Josh Fleming. The Nats fell behind 3-0, and then 4-2, and shut down the Rays' surprising offense.
Still, no one is going to remember that. They'll remember Raley swinging at the first pitch and driving it 372 feet. They'll remember three pitches later, when Lowe homered it 429 feet right field. Just like that, the Rays had a lead.
"After the first pitch, I thought that if he throws that cutter again, I'm going to hit it out of the park," Lowe said.
For Raley, it was his third home run in two nights. Not bad for a guy who hit .197 with one homer last year. Lowe hit .221 with two homers.
Together, they have helped to liven up an offense that had meager expectations. Jose Siri also had a homer.
“Pretty impressive," Rays' manager Kevin Cash said. "Credit their pitching -- after the second inning, we couldn’t get anything going. Our bats kind of went quiet for a little bit. We stayed at it and really turned it on in the ninth."
The Rays play at Washington again today at 1:05 p.m. Shane McClanahan will start for the Rays against Patrick Corbin.