Blake Snell pitched four-hit baseball into the seventh inning and Wilson Ramos homered twice to power the Tampa Bay Rays to their fifth consecutive victory, a 8-3 decision over the Los Angeles Angels Friday at Angel Stadium
EARLY POWER GIVES TAMPA BAY ADVANTAGE: Both Blake Snell and Nick Tropeano put up a scoreless first inning, but Daniel Robertson got Tampa Bay on the board in the second, blasting his fourth home run of the season deep into the seats in left for a 1-0 advantage.
Tampa Bay added on an inning later, as C.J. Cron drew a walk to extend his streak to 24 straight games reaching base safely and two batters later, Ramos hit his first homer of the night in to the hedges in center field.
Mallex's Smith's RBI single later in the inning made it a 4-0 game and helped chase Tropeano (1-3) from the contest before the end of the frame.
Ramos welcomed reliever Cam Bedrosian in the fifth with his second blast of the night for a 5-0 lead.
Christian Arroyo drove in his first run as a member of the Rays in the same inning with a single.
Johnny Field added a seventh run on a suicide squeeze play that catcher Martin Maldonado couldn't field cleanly, and added an RBI single in the ninth.
FIELD HELPS SNELL KEEP LEAD: Field also made his share of plays on defense, including a diving catch on a sinking liner from Chris Young to keep Los Angeles off the board in the second.
That play was one of a handful that helped Snell (5-3) early. The left-hander allowed a two-run single to Andrelton Simmons in the fifth, but ended up throwing 114 pitches while nearly complete seven full innings. He walked three and struck out eight.
Chaz Roe came on and got the final out of the seventh and the first out of the eighth before Jonny Venters got the final five outs of the contest, his longest outing since September 27, 2012.
SATURDAY'S MATCHUP
Rays at Los Angeles Angels, 9:07 first pitch, coverage begins at 8:00 with The Inside Pitch presented by Crown Eurocars
Rays starter - RHP Sergio Romo (1-0, 4.96 ERA)
Angels starter - LHP Andrew Heaney (2-2, 3.93 ERA)
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Sunday - Rays at Los Angeles Angels, 4:07 p.m. first pitch
Monday - OFF
Tuesday - Rays vs. Boston Red Sox, 7:10 p.m. first pitch
Wednesday - Rays vs. Boston Red Sox, 7:10 p.m. first pitch
Thursday - Rays vs. Boston Red Sox, 7:10 p.m. first pitch