Dome, sweet Dome.
The Tampa Bay Rays enjoyed their return to Tropicana Field Tuesday night, beating the Detroit Tigers 5-1 in a solid victory. The Rays had spent the previous seven games on the road, losing six of them, before the victory Tuesday.
How good was it? It was so good that shortstop Tim Beckham, one of the team’s punching bags by the fans, had a two-run homer and a single and played solid shortstop for the Rays. Catcher Derek Norris also had two hits and drove in a run.
Starting pitcher Matt Andriese gave up a first-inning home run to Miguel Cabrera, but he gave up only three more hits. Three members of the bullpen were perfect in relief.
The Rays did strike out 10 times, which marked the seventh time in the last eight games they’ve whiffed in double-digits. But they had nine hits against Michel Fulmer, the reigning AL rookie of the year.
“We needed a win today,” Rays’ manager Kevin Cash said. “We went up againstt a very good pitcher in Fulmer and we had some good at-bats. Matt Andriese set the tone. He gave up the early home run, but it didn’t faze him and didn’t rattle him.”
Tampa Bay and Detroit play again tonight at the Trop. Chris Archer pitches against Jordan Zimmerman.
