Rays Beat Up Perez, Rangers To Open Series

ST. PETERSBURG (620 WDAE) -- Blake Snell pitched five-hit baseball into the seventh inning, and the Tampa Bay Rays got home runs by C.J. Cron and Daniel Robertson as the defeated the Texas Rangers 8-4 Monday at Tropicana Field.

DUFFY TWEAKS HAMMY EARLY:  After missing all of 2017 with Achilles issues, third baseman Matt Duffy was hoping for a healthy 2018 season, but he may have to deal with a nagging issue.

Duffy appeared to have tweaked his right hamstring while trying to steal second base after singling to start the bottom of the first inning.  He successfully stole the base and took third on a groundout by Adeiny Hechavarria, but was removed from the contest at that point.  Pinch-runner Joey Wendle would score on a base hit by Wilson Ramos later in the inning.

RAYS PLATE FOUR IN SECOND WHILE RANGERS LOSE PROFAR: The Rays busted the game open in the second with four runs.  Rob Refsnyder and Johnny Field started the inning by each drawing a walk from Rangers starter Martin Perez.  Mallex Smith's bunt single, his first of four hits on the day, loaded the bases and Wendle rolled a ground ball that Jurickson Profar tried to turn into a double play, but his throw went wide of first, allowing both Refsnyder and Field to score.

It the process of the throw, Smith took out Profar's legs on the slide into second, and the Rangers shortstop came down on the right side of his face, and was removed as part of the league's concussion protocol.

Carlos Gomez made it 4-0 with a base hit two batters later to score Wendle, and Wilson Ramos' two-out single scored Hechavarria to make it 5-0.

TWO BIG BLASTS IN FOURTH: After Joey Gallo's 430-foot homer off Snell in the fourth cut Tampa Bay's lead to 6-1, the Rays countered with two solo shots of their own in the bottom of the inning.  C.J. Cron's solo homer made it 7-1.

Daniel Robertson followed two batters later with a solo shot of his own, his first of 2018.

SNELL, HU GO THE DISTANCE: Snell allowed just the Gallo homer in the fourth inning and four other hits in the game, pitching one out into the seventh.  He didn't walk a batter and struck out nine in a 103-pitch performance.  

Chih-Wei Hu took over in the seventh and went the rest of the way for Tampa Bay, allowing three hits, including a three-run homer to Nomar Mazara in the eighth, walking one and striking out a pair.

After the game, Hu was optioned back to Triple-A Durham and reliever Hunter Wood was recalled from the Bulls.

TUESDAY'S MATCHUP

Rays vs. Texas Rangers, Tropicana Field, 7:10 p.m. first pitch, coverage on WDAE begins at 6:00 with The Inside Pitch presented by Crown Eurocars

Rays starter - RHP Yonny Chirinos (0-0, 0.00 ERA)

Rangers starter - LHP Matt Moore (0-3, 8.76 ERA)

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Wednesday - Rays vs. Texas Rangers, 1:10 p.m. first pitch

Thursday - OFF

Friday - Rays vs. Minnesota Twins, 7:10 p.m. first pitch

Saturday - Rays vs. Minnesota Twins, 6:10 p.m. first pitch

Sunday - Rays vs Minnesota Twins, 1:10 p.m. first pitch


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