Rays 7, Indians 2
Record: 29-18
Attendance: 18,884
Recently recalled from triple A Durham, pitcher Ryan Yarbrough changed the direction of his game dramatically, acting as a traditional starter tonight rather than the bulker who takes over from the opener. He pitched into the eighth inning giving up only two runs on four hits and a walk over 99 pitches. It was a commanding performance that raised his record to 3-1. It was also backed up by a power surge: two solo homers in the first from Tommy Pham (7) and Avisail Garcia (9); one solo homer in the second from Willy Adames (4); and a three-run "jack" from red-hot Kevin Kiermaier, who took advantage of his speed and an outfield collision between Oscar Mercado and Leonys Martin for an inside-the-park homer. The final score was 7-2, but the final outcome was never in doubt.
Yandy Diaz was put on the IL after a couple of days of pain from being hit on the hand by a Yankee pitcher (on purpose Diaz maintains), and so he had to miss this series against the team that traded him to the Rays over the winter. To date he is hitting .256 with 9 homers and 22 RBIs. Jake Bauers who went to Cleveland in the trade is hitting .221 with 5 homers and 17 RBIs. There isn't enough to claim victory in the trade, but the Rays confidence in Diaz looks warranted at this point--and it had better continue because Bauers was a popular young player many hated to lose.
Blake Snell tomorrow. This is a legitimate chance to improve to 12 games over .500 for the first time this year.
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