Saturday, 4 a.m.
It wasn't just that the Rays pieced together innings on Friday night.
Along the way, they pieced together moments.
Oh, it took all eight pitchers to slow down the Los Angeles Dodgers enough for a 9-3 victory Friday night. But the Dodgers were constantly putting pressure on the Rays, and the Rays were constantly coming up with big pitches to get themselves out of trouble.
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Consider the first inning, the Dodgers had runners on first and second when Jalen Beeks struck out Miguel Vargas.
In the fourth, winning pitcher Cooper Criswell coaxed a double play, then struck out David Peralta with a runner on second.
In the fifth, Criswell struck out two batters with two runners on.
In the sixth, Jake Diekman struck out Chris Taylor with a runner on second.
In the eighth, in perhaps the play of the game, Jason Adam struck out the dangerous Freddie Freeman with two runners and a 7-3 lead.
The Dodgers ended the night stranding 11 runners, hitting into two double plays and going three-for-14 with runners in scoring position.
"L.A. got plenty of runners on base," said Rays’' manager Kevin Cash, "but it felt like when we needed a big pitch it seemed to happen for us."
For the Rays, it was that kind of a keeper night. The Rays made defensive plays, stole four bases, hit two home runs and beat the highly regarded Dodgers in the first of a three-game set.
The two homers gave the Rays' 99 on the year. So who will hit No. 100? Yandy Diaz leads the team with 12, after all. And Jose Siri has hit six in his last 11 games. And Randy Arozarena loves the spotlight. (For the record, the Rays' 100th homer a year ago didn't come until August 12.
Diaz and Siri hit Friday night's homers. Diaz and Christian Bethancourt had three hits each. Siri and Wander Franco ihad two.
The Rays and Dodgers will play again at Tropicana Field today at 4:10 p.m. Tyler Glasnow will start for the Rays against Clayton Kershaw.
