Saturday, 4 a.m.
Take care of the start. Take care of the finish.
Usually, the middle will take care of itself.
The Tampa Bay Rays rode a familiar game plan Friday night in a 2-1 win over Seattle at T-Mobile Park. The Rays got a strong starting performance from Drew Rasmussen, who improved his record to 11-5 by going seven innings and giving up just two hits.
Then it was Bryan Baker's turn, again. Baker recorded his 33rd save, even though he gave up a solo homer in the ninth to Julio Rodriguez.
The Rays didn't have a lot of offense. They had only six hits, but two of them left the yard. Jonny DeLuca had a solo homer on the second inning amd Jonathan Aranda had another one in the third.
The Rays lead the AL East by 4 1/2 games over New York and five games over Boston.
The Rays and Mariners play again tonight at 9:50 p.m. at T-Mobile. Griffin Jax (6-9) will start for the Rays against George Kirby (8-9).