Monday, 4 a.m.
Yeah, that's how they're supposed to look, all right.
The Tampa Bay Rays, who had fallen in a hole for most of the last week, finally stuck their heads out Sunday afternoon. For a change, the Rays looked like a contender again, pulling away from the Chicago white Sox for a 9-3 victory.
This time, the Rays finally hit the ball, collecting 12 hits. They finally threw the ball, piecing together five relievers -- none of whom threw more than seven outs -- who gave up a total of just three hits. They finally caught the ball, in particular a home-run robbing catch by Josh Lowe. And after four straight losses, they finally won again.
“It was better," manager Kevin Cash said. "I'm happy that we pulled out a win. Three or four losses in a row can frustrate any club. We had a big first inning and a big eighth inning. It gave our pitchers some room to work with."
The Rays leapt to a 4-0 lead on three hits, three walks and an error. After that, however, Tampa Bay was shut out for six straight innings. The Rays were able to keep the lead behind their bullpen, even though Chris Mazza gave up four walks and a hit batter in his 2 1/3 innings of work.
The Rays tacked on another four in the eighth, and one more in the ninth.
For the day, Randy Arozarena and Manuel Margot each had three hits. Wander Franco had two, his sixth multi-hit game in 10.
"Coming into the game, thee offense had been a little quiet here lately," Cash said. "We needed to find a way to put some runs on the board. We didn’t do it by knocking the cover off the ball, but you’ll take it however. Good teams find a way when they’re presented the opportunity."
Lowe's play was impressive, said Cash.
"Very impressive," Cash said. "I thought it was a no-doubt homer. It was a good thing it was cold and the wind was blowing the other way. But Josh, being 6-4 or whatever he is, got up there pretty good."
The Rays stay in Chicago to start a three-game series against the Cubs tonight at Wrigley Field. Shane McClanahan will start for the Rays against Kyle Hendricks. The game begins at 7:40 p.m.