Tampa Bay Rays: A Look Back and a Look Ahead

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The Tampa Bay Rays have had an exciting week. They had a great series against the Colorado Rockies. The first two games were come-from-behind victories. In game one, they had an eight-run eighth inning capped off by a grand slam home run by rookie Osleivis Basabe. That was Basabe’s first-ever major league home run. The fan that caught the ball gave a small fight but ended up giving the ball back. The fan traded it for a signed bat and ball. Basabe gave the ball to his young daughter. The most exciting game of the series was game two. It was a back-and-forth game. The Rockies took a three-run lead late into the game. The Rays power in the bottom of the ninth and tied the game at five. A close play at first that looked like Issac Paredes was safe but called out.

The Tampa Bay Rays did not let that play get them down. In the 10th, Pete Fairbanks came in and mowed down the Rockies. Then, Brandon Lowe came up and hit the ball down the first base line and Basabe scored from second to give the Rays a 6-5 win. The next day in the final game, the Rays won 5-3 which was the first time in a while that Tampa Bay swept a series. Over the weekend, they welcomed AL East rival the New York Yankees. The Yankees are currently in last place, somewhere they haven’t been in a long time. One of the biggest issues with New York is that they have hit Rays batters more than the Rays hit them. This of course starts trouble when they play each other.

In game one against the Yankees the Tampa Bay Rays struggled. The major reason for that was because of Yankees pitcher Garrett Cole. Cole with 7 ⅔ innings gave up just three hits, one run, and 11 strikeouts. The Rays kept New York at bay for the first four innings. The Yankees struck in innings five through eight. They scored three runs in the seventh inning. That put the game away and gave New York a 6-2 win. In game two it was a completely different story. Just like in game one this time it was the Rays starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow’s turn to shine. He went six innings only giving up one hit and had four strikeouts. The Rays struck early scoring runs in innings two and three. Remember, I said earlier that New York likes to hit Tampa Bay batters. This happened in game three.

It started with Randy Arozarena got hit by a pitch. As he rounded the bases sliding into third he got into it with Yankees pitcher Carlos Rodon. This started the first of two bench-clearing altercations. The Tampa Bay Rays took over the game in the sixth inning scoring four runs and putting the game on ice. At that time the Rays were leading 6-4. They added one more run in the eighth to cap off a 7-4 victory. Taking two out of three from New York put them only two games behind the Baltimore Orioles for the lead in the AL East.

The Tampa Bay Rays are now heading south to Miami. They are avoiding a major hurricane in Idalia. It will make landfall in Cedar Key as a Category 3 or 4. They will be playing in-state rival the Miami Marlins. The Marlins are currently only one game above .500. They are third in the NL East. This will just be a short two-game series. In game one, the Rays will send out Aaron Civale who pitched in the 6-5 win over the Rockies last Wednesday. The Marlins will counter with Sandy Alcantara. The second game will feature Zach Eflin who has become the ace of the staff recently. Miami will have Jesus Luzardo to try and make sure the Rays do not sweep the series. Look for the Tampa Bay Rays to try and gain ground on the Orioles as a series with those two teams is coming soon.

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