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The Tampa Bay Rays have turned it around. One player in particular, center fielder Jose Siri, was in Kevin Cash’s dog house earlier in the year. After what happened last night he is one of the players that has stood out. Siri hit two solo home runs in last night’s game scoring two of three Rays runs. Zack Eflin had another good game striking out six. Also, we saw a new franchise record in last night’s game as Yandy Diaz broke a consecutive hit record hitting in 20 straight games. Many will say the Rays played a solid game last night and with that, they came out on top. They look to win their fourth consecutive series this afternoon in game two versus the Washington Nationals. The uniforms were the same with Washington wearing grey uniforms with navy blue caps. The Rays were dawning their city connect all-black neon Devil Rays jerseys with matching hats.
It did not take the Nationals long as lead-off hitter CJ Abrams hit a solo home run. Starting pitcher Aaron Civale hit Lane Thomas too so it was not a good start. Civale came in with a 2-5 record and a 5.20 ERA. The starting pitcher for the Nationals was Jake Irvin who has a 5-6 record with a 3.13 ERA. The Rays would answer in the bottom of the first after Brandon Lowe hit a solo home run. This was after the pitch the Lowe hit out got stuck in the “O” rings. In the top of the fourth inning, Civale threw a wild pitch. When that occurred Luis Garcia Jr. scored from the third.
As the game moved into the middle innings the Nationals held a slim 2-1 lead. Harold Ramirez got a hit in the top of the sixth and had a long conversation with former teammate Yandy Diaz at first base. Aaron Civale lasted 5 ⅔ innings giving up six hits, two runs earned with four walks, and two strikeouts. The game had little excitement as it headed into the last three innings. The Rays had men on base but could not put any runs on the board. Washington still held on to their one-run lead at 2-1. CJ Abrams seemed to be the player that was hard to get out. In the top of the seventh, he had an RBI double that missed going over the wall for another home run.
Abrams went 2 for 3 with two RBI including his solo homer in the top of the first when he led off the game with a homer. He would come around and score the Nationals’ fourth run after an RBI single by Jesse Winker. With all that going on, Jose Siri made a great catch in center field preventing another Washington run. The Nationals were a singles machine as another RBI single from Luis Garcia Jr. The next hitter Harold Ramirez hit a bases-clearing RBI triple that scored three runs. This is the second game that Shawn Armstrong has struggled in. He pitched the same against the Seattle Mariners. The “boo” birds were out as Armstrong was removed from the game giving up six runs. The Nationals took an 8-1 lead. They had 13 hits through seven innings.
17,501 was the announced attendance just over 2,500 more attended Friday night’s game. Diaz’s consecutive hits ended at 20 when first baseman Joey Meneses caught the line drive in his last at-bat. Harold Ramirez went 2 for 5 but his biggest hit was the two RBI triple.
The Tampa Bay Rays will have to try and get the series win today as the series concludes with the first pitch scheduled at 1:10. What got the Rays to win the opener did not happen in Game 2. Let’s see which team shows up for the rubber match.
Can the Rays get over this loss and claim the series tomorrow? Leave a comment below.
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