Tampa Bay Rays lose to 2-7 Chicago White Sox despite Hideki Matsui’s heroics – MLB Update
Chicago White Sox extended their winning streak to seven games as they beat Tampa Bay Rays 7-2 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida on Tuesday, May 29 in the second game of their three match series of the 2012 Major League Baseball regular season.
Most of the teams have found it very difficult to beat Rays at Tropicana Field this year. With an impressive 17-9 record at their home ballpark, it seems the Rays have successfully worked out a method to win games in front of their home crowd.
However, the White Sox showed just how easy it is to beat Joe Maddon and company in their backyard as they secured a comfortable 7-2 win on Tuesday’s evening to take a decisive 2-0 lead in the series.
Hideki Matsui helped Rays get off to a decent start when he homered to right in the fourth inning to put his team 2-0 ahead. Alexei Ramirez looked in incredible form as he singled to centre in the fifth to score the first run for Chicago.
"He's been a quality batsman in the league for a long time," Chicago’s starting pitcher Philip Humber said after securing his first win of the season. "First pitch of the at-bat, I felt like it was a pretty decent pitch, but he put a good swing on it. You've got to tip your cap sometimes, but he's a good hitter and it's not a mistake he's been around as long as he has."
"It was nice to hit the home run, but we lost the game," Matsui said through a translator. "Physically I feel fine. So hopefully I can just keep building from here."
With momentum on their side, the White Sox continued to pressurise their opponents and Dayan Viciedo earned an RBI single to give them a crucial 3-2 lead. Ramirez, Viciedo, Orlando Hudson, Alejandro De Aza and A.J. Pierzynski played a key role in building Chicago’s led to 7-2 in the eighth, which lasted till the end of the game.
Rays’ starting pitcher James Shields had a horrible time on the mound as he took his third loss of the season.
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