By Miguel Mike Medina
Photo Credit: JEFFEREE WOO | Times ]
Tampa Bay Rays scored four runs in the first inning to set the tone for the rest of the game in a 5-4 win over the Los Angeles Angels to snap a four-game losing streak.
Shortstop Jose Caballero hit the game’s biggest swing when he hit a grand slam to the opposite field to put the Rays on the board.
Kylen Paris would respond with a solo shot in the top of the second inning. Paris went deep twice as he hit another one in the eighth inning. Paris is off to a hot start. It’s his fifth home run of the season. Tyler Ward went deep in the fourth inning to cut it to 4-2. Jorge Soler powered to the opposite field for a home run to make it a one-run game, 4-3.
The Rays had chances to score runs in the third inning when they had men on first and second, but the inning ended on a double play. Rays came close to adding more runs in the sixth inning, but Angels second baseman Tim Anderson made a diving play to rob Coco Montes from getting an RBI and threw him out at first.
Yandy Diaz stopped the Angels’ momentum when he belted his first home run of the season in the bottom of the seventh inning. Diaz has been struggling this season, but in this game, he went 2-for-4.
Every single run or home run has been to the unbelievably opposite field. Pate Fairbanks earned his second save of the season.
Ryan Pepiot got his first win of the season as a starter. Pepiot allowed three earned runs, three walks, six hits, three home runs, and five strikeouts through five innings of work. Yusei Kikuchi got the loss after allowing four earned runs, six hits, five strikeouts, and a home run through six innings.
Rays improve to 5-6. Angels and Rays will play at 1:10 on Thursday. Zack Littell (0-2) will take the mound for the Rays and seek his first win of the year.
Miguel Mike Medina is the publisher of The MMM Journal. He can be reached at medinamiguelmike@gmail.com and themmmjournal@gmail.com
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