Sam Fuld shines as Tampa Bay Rays defeat Kansas City Royals 8-7 – MLB Update
Sam Fuld put in a brilliant performance as the Tampa Bay Rays beat Kansas City Royals 8-7 in an electrifying third game of the four-game series at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, on Wednesday, August 10 to earn his club a 3-0 advantage in series.
Tampa Bay Rays went under four runs deficit in the top of the ninth inning and their manager Joe Maddon was under great pressure to decide his final combination. Evan Longoria doubled to centre-field, allowing Matt Joyce to score the fourth run. Damon occupying
third base, Ben Zobrist landed at the plate and touched a grounder to second base for out but Damon scored the fifth run, it also sends Longoria to third.
It was another chance for the Rays and Casey Kotchman availed this chance to reduce the lead to 7-6. The Rays’ manager Maddon found it difficult to choose final at-bat batter, but he decided to send Fuld, who acted as per the expectation of his manager and
touched a triple to deep centre, scoring Elliot Johnson and then also added a score on a throwing error by second baseman Johnny Giavotella.
"At that point, you start replaying (the game)," Maddon said. "We were just fortunate to get some big hits."
Joakim Soria entered and gave away a single to Evan Longoria. He then received two game deciding runs and lost his fifth game of the season.
It was shock for both the Royals’ starter and manager Ned Yost. Felipe Paulino allowed only one run on three hits over his five innings. The only reason for his short innings and high pitch count was his four allowed walks. However, he stunned seeing great
combination work by the Rays.
"It started to tighten up in the third and then it kind of progressively got worse," Yost said. "He'll be fine. I don't anticipate him missing a start."
Rays’ starter Wade Davis, who gave four runs on six hits in his six innings, started showing small with the each run in the ninth inning. Besides Davis, Brandon Gomes and John McGee were the other pitchers who became excited on these hits. Despite giving
two runs on one homer over less than an inning, McGee managed to get his first win of the season.
With an ability to perform in a pressure situation can make the Rays one of the top teams of this season, according to baseball experts.
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