Following four straight wins against Boston in the middle of the week, the Tampa Bay Rays now sit at 13-0 to start the regular season. That is something only the 1987 Milwaukee Brewers and 1982 Atlanta Braves have done in the modern era.
Bats Remain Firing for Tampa Bay
Brandon Lowe now has five home runs and is batting .333 after a great series. Three home runs came in this series alone. His average increased by .041 following the wins over Boston.
Wander Franco continued his good start with four doubles and three RBIs in the series. His average now sits at .306 this season.
Yandy Diaz had a great series as well. He currently sits with the second-best average on the team (.289). He contributed to the offensive fire power scoring 4 runs while launching 2 home runs.
The Rays outscored the Red Sox 26-12 this series and beat them by at least four runs in tow of the wins.
Pitchers Perform well; Bradley and Bristo Have Great Debut Starts
Josh Fleming had a great day for the Rays to open the series. In a 1-0 win, Fleming gave up just one hit and struck out 5 Boston batters.
In the second game, Shane McClanahan came on to have a great performance with 9 strikeouts and just two hits in 5 innings pitched. He has a 1.59 ERA through three games played in this season.
Taj Bradley got his first MLB start in game three due to Zach Eflin’s injury. He pitched really well in 5 innings with 8 punch outs and just 5 hits.
Bradley on his first start, “Going out onto the field and all the fans know your name saying “go get them,” it had my heart going a little bit…everything felt great, I could throw strikes in the zone and beat hitters in the zone.”
In game four, The Red Sox hung around for the first five innings, but the Rays offense pulled away late. Braden Bristo recorded the save for the Rays. He also had 4 strikeouts in the three innings he pitched in his MLB debut.
Up Next
Now at 13-0, the Rays have already made history here in the early part of the year. Their next series is their first one on the road in Toronto against the Blue Jays. It is a three-game series that will go through this upcoming weekend.