Yandy Diaz Leads The Way as Rays Bounce Back With 10-5 Rout of Red Sox
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Yandy Diaz was packing his bags for the flight home from Cincinnati on Sunday when he reminded everyone that the world wasn't ending just because the Tampa Bay Rays had been swept by a lowly Reds team. There was still plenty of baseball to go.
"It's only three games and we've got three months to go. We just have to keep focused on winning,'' Diaz said. "This team plays against the better teams better, and we have to do that against Boston.
"We have to just go out there and trust the guys we have now.''
They did that Monday night with a 10-run, 14-hit explosion in a convincing and healing 10-5 victory over the Red Sox at Tropicana Field. Diaz led the way with his 3-for-3 night, and he's now hitting .500 since June 26, going 27-for-54. He's had 10 multi-hit games during that stretch.
He also had plenty of help.
All 11 players who saw action Monday either had a hit or scored a run. Harold Ramirez had two hits with two RBIs to raise his average to a team-leading .330. Catcher Francisco Mejia had two hits, as did newcomer Jonathan Aranda, who was 2-for-4 with an RBI.
It was a big win for the up-and-down Rays, who finished a three-city trip to Toronto, Boston and Cincinnati with a 5-6 record and had a nice 5-1 run in the middle of the trip, only to lose the last three.
So now they came home for a week of American League East games, four against the Red Sox and three with the surging Baltimore Orioles.
It' was an ''opener'' game for the Rays, who wearing forced to cover a missed start by Jeffrey Springs, who went on the injured list with a calf injury. Matt Wisler started and pitched a perfect first inning, and the recently called-up Josh Fleming got the bulk job.
The Rays scored a bunch early, getting two runs in the first inning and three in the second off of heralded Boston rookie Brayan Bello. Josh Lowe had a two-run single in the first, and the Rays got an RBI double from Diaz in the second, plus RBI singles from Ji-Man Choi and Aranada in the third.
But Fleming gave it all back. He allowed four runs in three innings, giving up six hits with two walks, and left after four with a left oblique strain. He was replaced by Luke Bard, another recent call-up who gave up a run in the fifth inning that tied the game at 5-5, but then he tossed two scoreless innings in the sixth and seventh as the Rays pulled back ahead with two runs in the sixth and three more in the eighth to pull away.
The 31-year-old Bard (1-0) picked up the win, his first since 2019 when he was pitching for the Los Angeles Angels.
"They mentioned last time, when I was optioned, that that was kind of the need up here, and asked if I was comfortable with it," Bard said. "I told them I would do whatever gets me here and keeps me here. I saw what was needed tonight and I was happy to fill that void."
Colin Poche and Jason Adam pitched perfect innings in the eighth and ninth, respectively. Adam struck out the side to close out the game.
The Rays had an error-free game and got a lot of great defensive play. None were better than the catch in the gap in left-center field by Brett Phillips. He ran nearly 100 feet and dove backward to steal a sure extra-base hit from Boston's Trevor Story. Phillips' catch was the No. 1 play on ESPN's top-10 plays on Monday night. Phillips also had a single, snapping a hitless streak that stretched all the way back to June 19. He was 0-for-28 before his ninth-inning hit.
😱 @Brett_Phillips8 HOW IN THE WORLD pic.twitter.com/jfvUbGKh6c
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) July 11, 2022
With the win, the Rays are now 46-40 on the season, a half-game behind the Red Sox. The Rays are fifth in the six-team AL playoffs pecking order, 1.5 games ahead of the Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays, who are tied for the sixth spot.
The two teams meet against on Tuesday night, with Corey Kluber (4-5) taking the mound for the Rays. Oft-injured star Chris Sale (rib) will make his season debut for the White Sox.
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.