ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays didn’t need much time to settle Wednesday night, and they didn’t need much offense to finish the job either.
Yandy Díaz snapped out of his 3-for-24 skid in the loudest way possible, jumping on the first pitch he saw from Rangers starter MacKenzie Gore and driving it over the right-field wall for a leadoff home run. Three batters later, Ryan Vilade added the other big swing of the night, crushing a two-run shot off the C-ring catwalk.
That was all Tampa Bay got at the plate, but it was more than enough. Behind opener Casey Legumina, left-hander Ian Seymour and a parade of relievers, the Rays blanked the Rangers 3-0 at Tropicana Field for their ninth shutout of the season and their third in the past four games.
Legumina set the tone by retiring five of the six hitters he faced. Seymour then took over and kept rolling deep into the seventh, getting 14 of 17 batters out and not allowing anyone to reach third base. Garrett Cleavinger worked out of trouble by stranding two runners in the seventh, Kevin Kelly handled the eighth, and Bryan Baker finished it off for his 29th save, his 18th straight.
The Rays’ bats went quiet after the opening frame. They didn’t collect another hit the rest of the way, with Ben Williamson getting aboard only after being hit in the foot by a pitch in the fifth and Díaz drawing a walk with two outs in the eighth.
Still, the damage was already done.
Tampa Bay had been on a power run recently, homering in 20 of 25 games, but had gone without a long ball in five of its previous six contests, including the last three. Díaz’s blast was his 15th of the season and his 114th as a Ray, tying Ben Zobrist for sixth place in franchise history.
Jonathan Aranda followed with a double off Gore, setting up Vilade’s ninth homer of the year. And once the Rays go deep twice in a game, the result usually follows: they improved to 25-5 this season when hitting at least two home runs.
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Contender Suddenly Eyeing A Key Angels Piece Fans Cannot Lose
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That is why Otto Lopez has surfaced as such an intriguing fit for Tampa Bays front office. He offers the kind of two-way profile the Rays usually covet, with offense, defense and long-term control all working in his favor, while other options such as Zach Neto would come with more questions on the glove side. The challenge now is finding a deal that improves the lineup without giving away the stability the Rays have built at shortstop. [Read more 🡒]