The Tampa Bay Rays rode the long ball to victory in the opening game of the 3 game series. Evan Longoria led the charge having a GREAT night at the dish going 4 for 5 with a HR, a 2B, 3 RBI and 3 runs scored. He was followed in the home run parade by Eric Hinske who blasted a 3 run shot and Carl Crawford who hit a solo bomb. The Rays did a nice job at the plate banging out 15 hits with only 6 K’s.
Scott Kazmir had a less than average outing for him in his 7th victory. He allowed 3 ER on 4 hits, 2 BB and a HR while compiling 4 K’s in just 5 innings pitched. Kaz pitched well but he lacked the ability to get the final strike by the Buc hitters. He went deep into far too many counts elevating his pitch count to 103 in just 5 innings. JP Howell followed Kaz and struggled with his control a bit. Howell allowed 1 hit, 1 ER and 2 BB in just 1 inning pitched. Grant Balfour and Trever Miller finished the game and quieted any hopes of a Bucs comeback.
The return of Carlos Pena saw him go 0 for 3 with 1 BB. Joe Maddon had him batting 6th in the lineup behind Longoria which is a great call. Pena wasn’t leaving too many runners in scoring position before his stint on the DL so good to see Maddon take some pressure off him in his return. By the way – the #4 hole was filled by Hinske who went 2 for 3 with 3 RBIs and 3 runs scored.
The Rays have been taking advantage of mistakes made by opposing pitchers both in the series with the Florida Marlins and in the first game of this 3 game set. If the Rays are willing to continue to be patient at the plate and force opposing pitchers to go deep they will sweep the Bucs. This road trip should breed a ton of confidence in the Rays as they will return to The Trop with a winning road trip without having their full compliment of players but for 1 game (Iwamura will being to serve his suspension tonight).
It’s a great time to be a Tampa Bay Rays fan!
