Game 1: Yonny Chirinos spun 7 shutout innings and Brandon Lowe went 3-3 with a homer (#5), a double and 2 RBI as the Rays blasted Detroit and Matt Manning 7-0 in the series opener. Vidal Brujan had an RBI triple, Randy Arozarena was 2-3 with an RBI and Willy Adames drove in a pair as well. Chirinos went 7 3 0 0 2 7 and is now 3-0, 1.75.
Game 2: A 4-run first paced the Rays to a 6-4 win over the Tigers and they received another excellent start from Matt Peacock, who went 6 6 2 2 3 5 to improve to 3-0, 3.42. Randy Arozarena and Willy Adames had RBI singles in the 1st and then Brendan McKay got to do it with the bat as well as his arm, drilling a 2-run double to cap the opening rally. They later added a couple to make it 6-2 which proved important when Ken Giles coughed up a couple of runs in the 9th, including a homer to pinch-hitting Tiger prospect Riley Greene, his first MLB hit.
Game 3: The Rays used an opportunistic offense and another great start from Ryan Yarbrough to edge Detroit 3-2 and sweep the series. The bats only managed 4 hits for the day but pushed across 3 runs in the 3rd on a sac fly, wild pitch, and bases-loaded walk. That was enough for Yarbrough, who finally now has a win to show for his excellent pitching to date (1.93 ERA, 2 walks in 28 IP) after a 6.1 5 1 1 0 5 performance. Aaron Fletcher made it interesting allowing Detroit a run, but Diego Castillo got through the 8th and Nick Anderson had a 1-2-3 9th for his first save of the year with Giles tired from the day before.
Team record: 12-6, 1 game behind the Yankees, who just lost Giancarlo Stanton and his 11 homers to an oblique strain for a month. Next up: Back home for 3 vs the Jays.
