Thursday, 4 a.m.
You can think of it as the day the bullpen finally put out the fire.
Of all of the low points of their recent 3-8 record, perhaps the most obvious was the mess that the bullpen had turned into. Game after game, the Rays would be tied or in the lead after seven innings or so, only to watch the other team end up dancing around the infield.
Ah, but this time, four Rays’ relievers threw up zeros in the Rays’ 7-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers. Those relievers — Kevin Kelly, Garrett Cleavinger, Mason Englert and Pete Fairbanks — allowed just two hits in their 3 1/3 innings of work.
Perhaps the biggest out of the night came with two outs in the bottom of the seventh when Cleavinger struck out Riley Greene with the bases loaded.
Or, perhaps, you can remember it as the day the offense returned. The Rays pounded out 16 hits in the victory, including six-for-14 with runners in scoring position.
Jonathan Aranda had three hits to improve his average to .327. Junior Caminero had two, including his 22nd home run. Jake Mangum, Chandler Simpson, Ha-Seong Kim and Taylor Walls all had two.
The Rays trailed 3-2 in the sixth inning, but they put together five hits in a four-run inning. The Rays had four straight hits -- a double by Kim, a single by Walls, a double by Danny Jansen and a single by Yandy Diaz.
Most of all, you can think of it as the day winning returned.
The Rays won for the first time in their series against Detroit. It was the 50th win of the year for the Rays and kept the team within four games of Toronto for the AL East lead.
Zack Littell started for the Rays. He improved his record to 8-7 as he went 5 2/3 innings and gave up three earned runs.
The Rays open a three-game series against Boston tonight at Fenway Park at 7:10 p.m. Taj Bradley will start for the Rays against Walker Buehler.