Spring Showers: The Tampa Bay Rays get their first win

The Tampa Bay Rays won their first game of Spring Training against the Orioles yesterday in a rain shortened affair.

The bats finally broke through in a big way yesterday led by prospects Jesus Sanchez and Nate Lowe. The Tampa Bay Rays used a 10 run 8th inning to move to 1-4 in exhibition play.

On the mound:

The recently acquired Emilio Pagan got news of his surprise start or “open” when he arrived at the complex early Monday morning. Ryan Merritt was slated to start but Kevin Cash opted to go with Pagan instead. Whether or not the move was aimed to give him a glimpse of a possible future role or just to beat the weather is unclear.

Pagan went 2 innings giving up 4 hits and 2 runs while walking 1 and striking out 2. Merritt followed and tossed a scoreless 3rd. Next to toe the rubber was Austin Pruitt who went 2 innings and gave up 2 runs. Both runs came as a result of a Chris Davis blast in the second inning of Pruitt’s outing.

Both Diego Castillo and Jalen Beeks managed to get 3 outs without yielding a run. Adam Kolarek was not as fortunate as he gave up a run without recording an out due to the game being suspended.

At the plate:

Over 8 innings, the Rays totaled 15 hits and tallied 11 runs, with 10 of those runs coming in the top half of the 8th. The Rays entered the 8th inning trailing 4-1, having scratched across their lone run in the 5th, thanks to a Brandon Lowe RBI double.

The scoring was sparked by back to back home runs by Jesus Sanchez and Christian Arroyo. Sanchez’s blast was good for 3 runs and was apparently a shot.

Jesus Sanchez with a three-run bomb to right gives the #Rays a 5-4 lead in the 8th. Absolutely crushed it.
— Juan Toribio (@juanctoribio) February 26, 2019

Nate Lowe contributed a 2-run double to the eventual 10 run outburst which was capped off by a Andrew Velasquez RBI single.

Here is what the Tampa Bay Rays skipper had to say about the young guns showing off at the plate:

#Rays Cash on Nate Lowe, Jesus Sanchez and Christian Arroyo: "We have some young guys that can hit the ball really, really hard."
— Juan Toribio (@juanctoribio) February 26, 2019

The Rays are slated to play a 1:05 EST home game against the Red Sox today. You can watch on TV and listen on the radio.

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Blake Snell is slated to make his first start of the Spring this coming Thursday against the Twins.

The Tampa Bay Rays won their first game of Spring Training against the Orioles yesterday in a rain shortened affair.

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