Tampa Bay Rays keep pace with Yankees
The Tampa Bay Rays have been in a back-and-forth struggle with the New York Yankees to stay atop the American League East. The Rays (78-48) kept pace with the Yankees after dismantling the Los Angeles Angels 10-3 on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium with 43,577 watching.
Tampa Bay started strong and ended even stronger as the Angles looked depleted from the opening pitch. After a scoreless first inning, the Rays opened the scoring with four runs in the second inning and looked well on their way to a comfortable and successful start.
John Jaso singled in two runs during the four-run second inning and the Rays added three more runs in the bottom of the ninth. "That was nice not having to hold our breath going into the eighth, ninth innings," catcher John Jaso said as the Rays started their seven-game road trip.
Evan Longoria turned in a solid outing going 3-for-5 and hit his 19th home run of the season. His efforts were aided by the return of starting pitcher Wade Davis.
The Rays activated Davis off the 15-day disabled list with a right shoulder strain on Tuesday and he made his first start since August 5. Davis was making his first career appearance against the Angels and was solid in his debut allowing two runs on six hits over 5 1-3 innings.
The 24-year-old showed no signs of rust or discomfort as he earned his 10th win of the season. "Good to get out there again," Davis said, who threw 85 pitches. "It's been awhile."
Rays manager Joe Maddon was pleased with Davis and said his pitcher had "really good stuff" and that his "overall command was good. He did not throw a whole lot of breaking stuff. He pitched primarily with his fastball. It's a nice first step coming back."
The Angels currently sit a third in the AL West and are in a slump having dropped seven of their past nine games and don’t have an answer or solution for the poor performance. "I don't have any more excuses. I'm out of them," right fielder Torii Hunter said. "It seems like we've been in a slump for a long time and we need to fight through it."
It’s been awhile since the last time Tampa Bay has been in a slump.The Rays have won four straight, and will try to continue their streak. Tampa Bay will try for their first road sweep of the Los Angeles on Wednesday having won the previous two contests at Angel Stadium.
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