The Rays put the icing on the cake Sunday afternoon, finishing off the Twins in grand sweeping fashion. Chris Archer put together strong outing, and the offense was able to put together another good performance.
Archer pitched into the seventh inning and allowed three ones (one earned) while striking out four. He’s now yielded one run in three starts against the Twins, extending back to 2013. Archer was directly responsible for a second inning run, after he fielded a ground ball and threw it by James Loney at first — allowing the runner to advance to second and score on a base hit.
Archer got into another jam in the sixth inning. Two base hits and an error by Kevin Kiemaier (when he over ran a hit to right) later, Minnesota found themselves with men in scoring position and one out. The Twins were able take advantage of the situation, to the tune of two runs, thanks to a wild pitch and a fielder’s choice.
The Rays were able to hold the Twins to three runs after Brad Boxberger, Jake McGee, Grant Balfour, and Kirby Yates combined for the final eight outs of the game. That’s not to say they were an easy or pretty eight outs.
Balfour was tasked with closing out the game, yet he failed to do so once again. Balfour walked two consecutive batters after getting Eduardo Escobar to fly out to left. Joe Maddon had seen enough. Since Joel Peralta was unavailable, the Rays skipper called upon Yates to get the final two outs. Yates was up to the task and quickly retired the final two batters — coaxing a groundout to third and a fly-ball out to Logan Forsythe in foul territory.
Offensivly speaking, the Rays recorded at least ten hits and five runs for the third consecutive day. Every starter, aside from Curt Casali, reached base at least once. James Loney put the Rays on the board early, with a two run single in the first inning. Ben Zobrist added to the lead with a sac fly in the second, Yunel Escobar plated the third run on an RBI double in the third, and Evan Longoria also doubled in a run in the sixth.
The Rays improved to 47-53, putting them 7.5 games out of first in the AL East (six games in the Wildcard standings; 1/2 game behind the ChiSox), also making it more unlikely they decide to move David Price before the July 31 trade deadline.
Noteworthiness
- Evan Longoria surpassed Carl Crawford and now holds the franchise record for the most doubles at 216, after hitting a pair of two-baggers in Sunday’s game. He also tied Crawford for the most runs batted in at 592. Ben Zobrist is right on their heals with 214 doubles.
- Let me understand this: Three Reds couldn’t make a play on an inning ending popper, yet Longo was able to catch a high, infield pop-fly whilst toppling over. Cincinnati had the chance to salvage a game — helping the Rays in the process — yet the Reds suck so hard, they were swept by the Tankees.
