Rays 6, Diamondbacks 3
Record: 23-12 Major league best.
Attendance: 8,059. A new low. (A moment of embarrassed silence. . . .) According to Marc Topkin in the Tampa Bay Times, this is not only the lowest attendance of the year, it is the lowest since September 5 and 6, 2017 (6,509 and 7,185) when the area was in lockdown waiting for Hurricane Irma.
Brandon Lowe opened the game with a towering fly ball to center that cleared the fence and gave the Rays a 1-0 lead--a nice carry-over from last night's offensive display, 12 runs and 13 hits. In the end tonight they had six runs and 12 hits. Five men had two hits apiece. Only Kevin Kiermaier and Tommy Pham failed to get a hit. They managed to get small-ball runs in the seventh and eighth innings when they scored four runs to put the game out of reach, though reliever Adam Kolarek gave back a pair of solo homers to make it look closer.
Rays pitching tonight was excellent, with opener Ryan Stanek tossing two excellent innings. Jalen Beeks, who won the game, came on to pitch three and a third bulk innings, with Kevin Cash's favorite inning-or-less pitchers finishing things up. Everyone did a creditable job with even Chaz Roe improving to a single walk in his two/thirds.of an inning.
The ongoing up and down saga of Willie Adames saw him back at his post tonight. He went 2 for 3 with an RBI and a stolen base, thus taking some of the pressure off himself after his long slump this year and his base running gaffe on May 4 against the Orioles. In a related story, SS Jake Cronenworth was named Rays top minor league position player of April with a .370 BA at Durham.
Tomorrow's matinee is a Rays chance to sweep the Diamondbacks. Charlie Morton will take the mound.
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