Rays’ power their way to win over A’s

by Gary Shelton on May 10, 2021

in general

Adames hit a three-run homer in the Rays' victory./STEVEN MUNCIE

Monday, 4 a.m.

Well, look who has a little pop in their bats, after all.

Light-hitting Willy Adames is thunder? Lighter-hitting Mike Brosseau is lightning?

And the Tampa Bay Rays are sluggers again.

Adames, a .185 hitter who had three home runs on the season, and Brosseau, a .174 hitter who had two, powered the Rays to a 4-3 victory over Oakland on Sunday afternoon. Adames' three-run shot tied the game in the fifth, and Brosseau hit the game-winning home run an inning later.






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"Three-run home runs can make a lot of questions go away," said Rays' manager Kevin Cash.

The Rays had only two other hits on the afternoon

The Rays aren't particularly known for the long ball -- they were 11th in the majors coming in -- but they've had a run lately. They hit seven homers in their seven-game road swing (five wins).

“Pretty big," said Cash. "It was tough (Cole) Irvin had us off-balance. We hit some balls hard, kind  of those atom balls. He pitched really well and made it tough. It was a big hit by Willy. Big hit by Bross. Good to see the guys  bounce back after getting down 3-0. "

Adames' homer tied the game after the Rays fell behind 3-0 in the fourth on singles by Stephen Piscotty and Mitch Moreland. But Adames tied the game with his homer to right.

"It was big inning for us," Adames said. "We needed to score there to take a little bit of pressure off our pitchers. I was just happy that I got the opportunity to hit the ball and lucky it went out."

Adames hadn't been scuffling quite as bad as Brosseau, who was hitting just .122 (6-for-49) in his last 17 games.

"It’s no secret that I'm not performing the way I and a lot of people expect me to," Brosseau said. "I put in the work on a daily basis. It’s a result-oriented sport, but you’ve got to trust the process. It’s a really good feeling not only to see one fall but to go over the fence as well."

Except for the fourth, when Shane McClanahan struggled, the Rays -- featuring four relievers -- shut out Oakland.

"If we’re nit-picking one pitch an outing, you’re doing pretty good," Cash said.

The Rays now return to Tropicana Field. They're off today but open a series with the Yankees on Tuesday. Luis Patino will start for Tampa Bay against Jordan Montgomery of New York. The game begins at 7:10 p.m.



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