Francisco Mejia Plays Hero Role Again For Rays in 5-3 Win Over Orioles
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash was a seldom-used backup catcher in his playing days, so he's got an enormous amount of respect for guys who can flourish in that role.
He's got that guy in Francisco Mejia, who was the hero for the second straight day for the Rays, who beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-3 on Saturday at Tropicana Field for their second win in two days.
Mejia, who won Friday's game with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth, hit a two-run home run in the third inning to put the Rays back up by three runs, and they cruised from there, starting the season at 2-0 for just the fifth time in their 25-year history.
"He got on top of a fastball, a pretty well located pitch that he drove out of the ballpark,'' Cash said. "We've got to capitalize any way we can. We had the three-run inning, but then Frankie comes up and separates us even a little bit more. He's had two really big at-bats for us so far.''
Cash, who was a .183 hitter through eight big-league seasons as a backup, appreciates having Mejia and starter Mike Zunino behind the plate, because he's got nothing to worry about — offensively or defensively — regardless of who is out there.
"I wish I had as much talent as Frankie does,'' Cash said. "wee have two catchers on our roster who could be playing every day. In the early going, we'll be using him quite a bit. There's a lot of trust with Kyle (Snyder, the Rays pitching coach) and the pitchers with him, too. He did a really nice job with the pitchers today, and that's not easy with all the different guys we have.''
The Rays pounced early, scoring three runs in the second inning to grab the lead, and Mejia was right in the middle of that rally, too. Josh Lowe started it off with a triple into the gap in right-center, and Mejia singled him in. Kevin Kiermaier hit a double to left, and then Mejia scored on a groundout to first off the bat of right fielder Brett Phillips. Kiermaier then scored on a sacrifice fly from Wander Franco.
Baltimore got two in the top of the third on a Ryan Mountcastle two-run homer. He drove in shortstop Jorge Mateo, who led off the inning with a walk.
Rays starter Drew Rasmussen, who pitched four solid innings, was more upset with the walk than the home run. He threw 64 pitches. But it was also his 11th straight start with the Rays where he's allowed two runs or less.
"If we don't give up a walk, I'm a little happier.'' Rasmussen said. The walk is what frustrated me. Home runs are going to happen. Good hitters put good swings on even good pitches. I need to throw strike one a little better. I've got to limit the walks and throw strike one a little better. One cutter got left out over the middle and got hit, but I felt like I didn't give up much hard contact.
"It's early, and of course I wish I could have gone deeper, but I understand what we're doing. They're going to continue to build us up like it's a spring training setting. I know my time to get stretched out is coming.''
Cash was happy with Rasmussen's performance.
"I thought Rass was really good,'' Cash said. "I know he wants to continue going out there and I know he feels like he had plenty left in the tank, but just like with Mac (Shane McClanahan) yesterday, we're going to be mindful of the starters' workloads.''
It also helps that Cash can turn to a bullpen that's been lockdown these first two days. Josh Fleming came in for the fifth and pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing just three hits and striking out five. J.P. Feyereisen finished off the last two outs of the eighth inning and Andrew Kittredge got the save.
Through two games, the Rays' bullpen has thrown 9 2/3 innings and given up just two runs.
The Rays had eight hits on the day, two each from Mejia and Josh Lowe, and one each from Choi, Kiermaier, Phillips and Randy Arozarena, who was honored before the game with his 2021 American League Rookie of the Year award.
But once again, it was Mejia who was the star of the game.
"Preparation has been helping me for all the work I put in during the offseason,'' Mejia said through translator Manny xxx. "It's all about helping the team out. I worked on putting on more weight, and I think that's helped with my swing.
"In San Diego, I learned to be ready any time, but especially coming here, you'e always got to be ready for any opportunity, especially since I knew I was going to play more when I got here.''
The Rays, who have now won 14 straight games against the Orioles dating back to late summer, will go for the sweep on Sunday. Game time is 1:10 p.m. ET with veteran Corey Kluber making his first start for the Rays.
Related stories on Rays baseball
- JUST FOR STARTERS: Here's our breakdown on what Rays starter Drew Rasmussen did on Saturday during his four innings of work, plus running totals on what the starters have done so far this season. CLICK HERE
- RAYS 2022 SCHEDULE: Here is the complete Tampa Bay Rays schedule for the 2022 season, with dates, locations and game times. This will be updated constantly with results and links to game stories, plus any adjustments to the schedule will be made here in real time as well, so bookmark this story and refer to it often. CLICK HERE
- RAYS POSTSEASON HISTORY: The Tampa Bay Rays have made the playoffs seven times since 2008, and have won two American League pennants, Here's what they've done all-time in the postseason. CLICK HERE
Tom Brew is the publisher of Inside The Rays, and has been with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation network for three years. He is an award-winning writer and editor who has spent most of his four-decade career at the Tampa Bay Times, Indianapolis Star and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He has written four books.