Dickerson had a four-hit day to lead Rays./CARMEN MANDATO
Monday, 2 a.m.
First was why the bullpen couldn't hold the opposition down.
Second was why the batting order couldn't pad to the lead.
It happened Sunday afternoon, when the Rays finally ran away from an opponent. Tampa Bay turned a slight 3-2 lead into 4-2, and then erupted with their biggest inning of the year. The Rays scored seven times and had eight hits in the inning to win, increasing their record to 19-21 on the season.
Content beyond this point is for members only.
Already a member? To view the rest of this column, sign in using the handy "Sign In" button located in the upper right corner of the GarySheltonSports.com blog (it's at the far right of the navigation bar under Gary's photo)!
Not a member? It's easy to subscribe so you can view the rest of this column and all other premium content on GarySheltonSports.com.
Andriese ran his record to 3-1 on the season./CARMEN MANDATO
The Rays had 16 hits in the win, including four by Corey Dickerson, who leads the American League with 16 multi-hit games. Evan Longoria, Rickie Weeks, Tim Beckham, Kevin Kiermaier and Jesus Sucre all had two. Sucre had three RBI.
The game was played in a misting rain.
Matt Andriese got the win for the Rays to extend his record to 3-1. It wasn't the
Evan Longoria had two hits and drove in two runs./STEVEN MUNCIE
best effort by Andriese, but he went five innings and gave up four hits (two earned runs). Five relievers threw shutout baseball for the Rays, including Erasmo Ramirez, who struck out four over two hitless innings.
The Rays were close until the ninth, when they took their big lead. The biggest blow of the inning was a three-run homer by Steven Souza Jr.
“Matt was good,” said Rays' manager Kevin Cash. “He never quite found a good rhythm, but give himcredit for battling against a good lineup.”
Dickerson is now hitting .340 for the Rays. He has hit safely in 11 of 12 games in the month.
Souza now has 22 RBI. He entered the game two for his last 30.
The Rays now move to Cleveland, where Chris Archer will face the Indians' Carlos Carrasco. Archer is 0-5 with a 5.14 ERA against Cleveland. No pitcher has ever lost his first six games against Cleveland since Frank Sullivan in 1954-55.
Souza closed things out with a three-run homer in the ninth./JEFFREY S. KING
{ 0 comments… read it below or Subscriptions }