Cincinnati Reds defeat Tampa Bay Rays 5-0 – MLB Update
It was the boys from Cincinnati Reds who did the talking at the Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida as they crushed the Tampa Bay Rays 5-0 in an epic display of baseball on Monday, June 27.
The Rays now become the only team who has never beaten the Cincinnati side and have a lowly 0-7 record against the Reds.
The Reds were outstanding as a team. Their hitters connected and their pitchers were accurate. Mike Leake, their starting pitcher, ended his two-game losing streak as he came back to win this one. He, along with his relief pitchers, managed to shut-out the
Rays. Playing on the road, this is no easy feat.
Leake pitched for six innings and threw 99 pitches. He managed 57 strikes and three strike-outs. Only four hits came off his pitching without any run being scored. It was his seventh win for the season.
Sam LeCure and Nick Masset continued with the vintage display of the pitching exhibited by Leake and managed just two hits off the combined three innings they threw.
The Rays could not match their counterparts and their bull-pen seemed like a scattered flock of sheep. Jeremy Hellickson was wayward with his pitching and leaked four runs off the six innings that he pitched. Although he managed nine strike-outs, but he
ended up losing the game as the four runs proved to be too much for the Rays. His win-loss record now stands at 7-7 for the season. Cesar Ramos came in as relief pitcher to put the stride of runs to a hold but to no avail. Adam Russell and Andy Sonnanstine
could not do much with their efforts either as the 5-0 lead already was enough for the Reds to seal the night.
Fred Lewis and Brandon Phillips opened the scoring in the first innings, adding one run each. Jonny Gomes then chipped in with his fourth-inning 11th home-run for the season distancing 435 feet. In the last five games played, it was Gomes’s third
home-run. Paul Janish did not stay behind and added one more in the fourth innings to establish a decisive four-run lead in the game where Rays failed to record a single run.
Phillips then layered the icing on the cake by scoring his second and the team’s fifth and final run of the night in the seventh innings to complete the 5-0 battering of the Tampa Bay Rays.
The Reds are now fast improving in the season with their record at 41-39, moving slightly above the .500 barrier. This win will surely add to the growing confidence.
The Rays, although at a comfortable 44-35 position in the season, are going to try and learn from their mistakes in this game and will be looking to regroup.
The next game between both sides is scheduled for Tuesday, June 28.
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