Souza reminded the Nationals he used to play there./ANDREW J. KRAMER
Wednesday, 11:41 p.m.
Maybe, it's doing the Rays some good as well.
One night after their most embarrassing defeat of the season, the Rays smothered the Nationals 5-0 in Washington. The previous night's game had been in St. Petersburg. This, however, was a focused team despite the rain and despite a patched-together pitching staff in which five pitchers gave up only two hits to the Nationals.
But the star of the night was Souza, the outfielder the Rays had obtained in a trade with Washington last off-season. Souza was three-for-four, including his 13th home run of the season. When the Washington fans last saw Souza, he was in a Nats' uniform and was making a sliding catch to preserve Jordan Zimmerman's no-hitter. Wednesday night, he helped ruin Zimmerman's night.
Curt Casali also hit his first home run as a Ray.
It's just a reminder that there is no carry over in baseball from one night to the next, and that momentum is always a starting pitcher. As bad as Tuesday night was -- and the Rays used two infielders to finish the pitching chores -- it was only one loss.
Tonight, the Rays Chris Archer goes for his eighth win (against four losses) against Washington's Doug Fister at 7:05 p.m.
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