Rays' Christian Bethancourt Literally Does it All in 11-1 Rout of Angels
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Everything seems to be going right for the Tampa Bay Rays these days, in every phase of the game.
And for Rays catcher Christian Bethancourt, he handled every phase singlehandedly on Tuesday night. He had two hits and three RBIs — including his third homer in his last three starts —and he also caught a great game in working with starter Corey Kluber.
But he also pitched the ninth inning of the 11-1 rout of the Los Angeles Angels, saving a bullpen arm while twirling a scoreless inning.
"I like that name, Ohtani Junior,'' he said with a smile in reference to Angels pitcher and hitter Shohei Ohtani, last year's league MVP.
Bethancourt, who came over to the Rays from Oakland in May, was formerly a pitching prospect in the San Diego organization, so taking the mound was nothing new to him. He fired a fastball at 94.7 miles per hour, the third-fastest ever by a position player since tracking began in 2008. Bethancourt also has the fastest (95.7) on April 18, 2017.
"Since my first fastball was 93, that was a little blow to the ego,'' said Kluber, who praised Bethancourt not only for his inning of relief but also for the nice job he did behind the plate.
He called a great game, and Kluber executed the plan perfectly. The Angels were aggressive at the plate, trying to attack early in the count. Kluber left them guessing, allowing just three harmless singles through the first five innings. Kluber went six, not allowing a run until Angels star Mike Trout hit a towering home run to left field in the sixth inning that rattled off the C-ring catwalk. It was his 1,500th career hit.
The Rays' starting pitching this time through the rotation has been tremendous, and it was no different on Tuesday night.
"I wasn't perfect tonight, but they were being aggressive and we got some quick outs,'' said Kluber, who is now 8-7 on the season. Being very good, that's a trend for sure.
Look what the Rays' starters have done during the last trip around the rotation:
- Shane McClanahan: 7.0 innings, 2 runs, 2 hits. Both runs scored on one swing, a Bobby Witt Jr. homer for Kansas City.
- Drew Rasmussen: 5.2 innings, 2 runs, 2 hits. One run scored on a sacrifice fly, the other while he was already in the dugout.
- Ryan Yarbrough: 4.1 innings, no earned runs, 3 hits
- Jeffrey Springs: 5.2 innings, 1 run, 5 hits
- Corey Kluber: 6.0 innings, 1 run, 5 hits.
- TOTALS: 28.2 innings, 6 runs, 17 hits, a 1.88 earned run average and an average of 3.4 hits per game. And remember, three of the six runs came on TWO swings.
Rays manager Kevin Cash has been impressed with the Rays' starters, too, this last go-round.
"You can't get much better than that,'' he said. "Our starters are giving us every opportunity. This game got separated, but the previous three, four, five games were really tight ballgames, and to be able to stay in those you really need to have good starting pitching and we've been getting it.''
The Rays got two runs early, making some noise in the third inning. Jose Siri doubled to open the inning, and he scored on a single by Manuel Margot, Harold Ramirez singled two batters later to drive in Margot.
After that Trout homer in the sixth cut the lead to 2-1, the Rays answered right back in the bottom of the inning on a solo homer by Isaac Parades. It was his 15th homer of the season, but his first in 71 at bats dating back to July 27.
He really socked this one pic.twitter.com/io5qz8wnaG
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) August 24, 2022
The Rays blew the game open in the seventh inning, scoring six runs.
Bethancourt led off with a homer, but the Rays were just getting started in the inning. They took advantage of three walks, getting an RBI double from Yandy Diaz, a two-run single from Taylor Walls and a two-run single from Bethancourt.
They tacked on two more in the eighth, getting back-to-back RBI doubles from Margot and Randy Arozarena. The Rays had 14 hits on the night, five for extra bases.
"Hit a home run, catch a great game and throw a scoreless inning, that has to rank right up there,'' Bethancourt said when asked how he would rank this game in his major-league career. "Now I know what it feels like to be Ohtani. I was trying to get up to 100, but I've got some work to do.
"I definitely feel good at the plate. I was able to hit the ball hard. I don't look to hit homers, but I look to hit the ball hard. It's great to help this team win ballgames.''
With the win, the Rays are now 67-55 on the season, the first time they've been 12 games over .500 all season. They are 9-2 in their last 11 games — the best record in baseball over that stretch — and they are back on top of the wild-card standings. They are still eight games behind the New York Yankees in the American League East.
The Rays' bullpen, which also has been terrific lately, did its job again, too. Brooks Raley pitched a perfect seventh inning, and JT Chargois, who has missed almost all of the season with an oblique injury, did the same in the eighth.
The two teams meet again on Wednesday night, with Shane McClanahan (11-5, 2.29 ERA) pitching for Tampa Bay. Right-hander Mike Myers (1-0, 5.22 ERA) will start for the Angels, who are now 1-7 in their last eight games.
Watch Christian Bethancourt's postgame video
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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.