Saturday, 3 a.m.
How long, exactly, before you can call Zack Littell a mainstay in the Rays’ rotation?
Around him, the scenery is changing. Shane McClanahan is back on the injured list, and Jeffrey Springs and Drew Rasmussen are gone, and Aaron Civale is just getting here. Littell, meanwhile, just wrapped up his fifth start — the first two via the opener strategy — and already looks comfortable.
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Littell was solid in an 8-0 victory over Detroit Friday night, throwing six innings of three-hit, shutout baseball as the Rays coasted to a victory. Kevin Kelly and Shawn Armstrong finished off the shutout.
The Rays jumped on the Tigers early and never let up. They scored two in the first inning on a double by Isaac Paredes, and two more in the second on Jose Siri’s 21st home run, triple the amount he has had in any other season.
The Rays added three more in the sixth on four straight singles, then got one more in the seventh.
The Rays totaled 13 hits. In particular, the bottom of the lineup had a good day. Siri had two hits and drove in three runs. Harold Ramirez had three hits and drove in a run. Christian Bethancourt had a hit and an RBI, giving the bottom three six hits and five RBI.
Paredes also had two hits.
The Rays are now 4-0 against the Tigers this season.
The teams play again today at 1:10 p.m. Civale, acquired from Cleveland at the trade deadline, will make his first start for Tampa Bay against Tarik Skubal.