ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – What a weekend it was at Tropicana Field for the home team. A three-game sweep of the Mets that included Kevin Cash winning his 755th game to pass Joe Maddon in becoming the winningest manager in team history provided much needed positive vibes.
The Rays entered the weekend at 14-18 and were coming off a 1-5 road trip that included being swept by the White Sox and scoring all of four runs in losing two of three to the Brewers. While it was often far from pretty, the Rays did what they had to do against New York in applying the broom on the front end of a nine-game homestand.
“Wins were needed and I felt like we won every possible way,” said Cash, following Sunday’s 6-5 win in 10 innings. “We kind of got into a slugfest Friday night, a well-pitched game (Saturday) night and (Sunday) had a little bit of everything and we were able to come out on top.”
Read: Runs Hard To Come By For Tampa Bay Rays, Who Begin Nine-Game Homestand Friday
The Rays built a 9-3 lead and held on, 10-8, Friday evening before scoring twice on bases loaded walks in the eighth inning to produce Cash’s milestone win (3-1) Saturday night. With the Rays trailing by one and two outs in the ninth Sunday, Randy Arozarena strode to the plate hitting .136 and blasted a game-tying homer into the left field seats. After the Mets went up by a run in their half of the tenth, Jonny DeLuca, who made his Tampa Bay debut Friday after being sidelined due to a broken hand sustained in spring training, delivered a game-winning two-run triple.
The Rays (17-18) will attempt to get back to .500 Monday night when they play the first of three games against the White Sox. Following a day off Thursday, the Yankees arrive at the Trop on Friday for a three-game series.
Crisis averted: Pitcher Ryan Pepiot took a 107-mph liner from Starling Marte off his left leg in the third inning of Sunday’s game. While he departed, x-rays were negative as the ball caught mostly the fleshy calf region. He was removed after a couple of warmup pitches.
Read: Rays Newcomers Pulling The Weight At The Plate While Others Struggle
“You could tell after the warmup pitches that he was grimacing and you don’t want to put him in any situation where he is altering his delivery,” said Cash. “He will be sore (Monday), but optimistic he will be good to go (for his next start).”
755: There was quite the celebration for Cash following his milestone win Saturday evening. He was doused with various beverages while shaving cream was also applied as he was carted through the clubhouse.
The Tampa native took over for Maddon in December 2014 and won his first game April 8, 2015 against visiting Baltimore in the team’s third game.
“You think about that (first) win, you think about a lot of wins,” said MLB’s longest-tenured skipper with one club. “It’s just the number of players that have come through and contributed to allowing myself, and more so the organization, to get here.”
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