When the Rays traded for Adeiny Hechavarria it was clearly a move to improve their defense. That defense was on full display Friday night. The short stop started 3 double plays and caught a liner to get Steve Cishek out of a bases loaded jam in the 7th. Logan Morrison led the way offensively with a 1st inning homer and 3 RBIs in the 3-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox.
The Rays propensity for scoring early was on display Friday night. Kevin Kiemaier lined a base hit into center field on the 1st pitch of the game. It looked like KK would be left stranded, but with 2 outs Logan Morrison launched his 34th homerun to give the Rays a lead before Blake Snell even took the mound. Snell did his part and retired Chicago on just 5 pitches in the 1st. Kevan Smith got the 1st damage off of Snell with a double and then scored after a Morrison error in the bottom of the 2nd. Morrison made up for his own mistake in the next half inning when his RBI single scored Kiermaier for the 2nd time of the game. After his early struggles Reynaldo Lopez calmed down and pitched a great game. The rookie retired the last 11 batters he faced before exiting the game after 6.
Snell continued to roll, but not without help from his defense. It was Adeiny Hechavarria that flashed his glove. He started inning ending double plays to get Snell out of both the 5th and 6th inning. He wouldn’t let that streak stop as he started yet another double play in the 7th. That would be the last out Snell would record. He ended up going 6 ⅔ innings with the only run against him coming off of the Morrison error. Steve Cishek made things interesting after replacing Snell. He loaded the bases, but Hechavarria’s glove came through again. The short stop caught a liner to end the inning and leave the bases loaded.
Tommy Hunter devoured Chicago in the 8th and Alex Colome did the same in the 9th to secure the 3-1 victory.
The Rays will be back in action at Guaranteed Rate Field on Mark Buehrle bobblehead night. Chris Archer will take to the mound for Tampa Bay to oppose Carlos Rodon for Chicago. 1st pitch is scheduled for just after 7 pm with our coverage starting at 6 with Steve Carney and the Inside Pitch.