Rays Finish Weekend Series Sweep
The Tampa Bay Rays traveled north to take on the Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees in back-to-back road games. They defeated the Tigers 7-4 on Saturday and completed the weekend sweep by beating the New York Yankees 6-1 on Sunday afternoon.
Eovaldi Gets The Start:
Nathan Eovaldi made his second Grapefruit League start for the Rays and was effective holding the Yankees scoreless over two innings. He allowed a pair of hits, struck out two, threw 21 of 28 pitches for strikes. His fastball sat 97-100 miles per hour. He delivered 1.1-innings of scoreless ball against the Orioles in his first appearance.
#Rays Eovaldi pleased with outing vs. #Yankees: pic.twitter.com/QgOu7SDKFB
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) March 4, 2018
Rays Push Across Nine Runs:
After delivering seven runs yesterday, the Rays offense produced nine on Sunday. Denard Span drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the third. The Rays added three runs in the fourth thanks to a 2-out error by Danny Espinosa on a Jake Cronenworth ground ball.
Following the error Mallex Smith added an RBI single and Kevin Kiermaier delivered a RBI ground rule double. The lead was extended to 5-0 in the fifth on a RBI double by Johnny Monell. David Olmedo-Barrera delivered a RBI single in the sixth inning. Peter Maris capped the scoring hitting a 3-run homer in the top of the ninth inning giving the Rays a 9-1 lead.
‘Pen Solid In Relief:
After Eovaldi’s impressive two innings the Rays bullpen finished strong. Cody Hall, Chaz Roe, Yonny Chirinos, Matt Andriese, Austin Pruitt, and Ryan Weber each chipped in a scoreless frame. Ryan Yarbrough allowed one run in his inning of work.
Smith’s Productive Day:
Mallex Smith went 3-for-3 with a RBI. His day included a nice plate appearance against tough lefty Aroldis Chapman that ended with a single.
Bauers In The Outfield:
Jake Bauers got the start in right field and made an error on his first opportunity. It’s not his first time to play the outfield. Last season with the Durham Bulls, he made 19 starts in right. In his career he has made 80 starts in right field (57 in left). “I personally view him as a first baseman.” Manager Kevin Cash said. “To have that versatility, if somebody went down, our outfield is fairly set, I would hate if we couldn’t call upon Jake to get his bat in the lineup that way.”
First Off-Day Of Spring:
The Rays will enjoy their first off-day of the spring. “It’s a true off-day.” Said Cash. “Nobody’s going into the complex and throwing or sides or live BP’s [Batting Practice] – we’re off.”
Tampa Bay returns to Grapefruit League action against the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday afternoon in Port Charlotte. The game should feature the return of Adeiny Hechavarria (hamstring) and Matt Duffy (back-spasm’s) to the lineup.
