It starts when you notice a toe twitch.
Then there is a low moan.
Then comes the faint heartbeat.
My goodness, the offense of the Tampa Bay Rays is alive!
That offense, dormant most of the season, finally flipped the switch Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Rays hit four home runs and two doubles and went on to an 8-5 victory. The Rays are now 12-14 on the season.
The Rays got a home run from Brandon Guyer, one from Steven Souza Jr., one from Steve Pearce and one from Curt Casali to lead their attack. Pearce’s homer was a three-run shot. They scored three-times in both the sixth and seventh to build an 8-2 lead before giving up three in the eighth.
Casali, Pearce, and Guyer all had two hits for the Rays. Notable, however, was the single that Desmond Jennings got in the eighth, one that snapped a 26 at-bat hitless streak.
“We’ll take any of them (big offensive nights),” said manager Kevin Cash. “We scored five last night and eight tonight. So 13 in two days — we haven’t been averaging that. It’s time for us to give our pitchers a little breathing room. They have not had it. If this is a breakout, sign us up for it.”
Drew Smyly went five innings and allowed two hits. Erasmo Ramirez got the win to go to 5-1 on the season. Alex Colome got his sixth hold of the season.
“It’s huge. We’re going to win most of the games when we put up runs like that,” Guyer said. “I think we’re ready to turn the corner. We have had a lot of guys hitting the ball really hard and not finding the grass.”
The Rays now travel to Los Angeles to face the Angels. Chris Archer will pitch against Garrett Richards on Friday.
