After a dominant 12-2 victory last night, the Rays continued their dominance and beat the Detroit Tigers 5-1. The Tampa offense lit it up and had a total of eight hits and one home run which was hit by none other than the Cuban/Mexican slugger Randy Arozarena and perfect pitching which is thanks to Jeffery Springs.
RANDY AROZARENA STOPPED AND CROSSED HIS ARMS WHILE ROUNDING THIRD AFTER A HOME RUN pic.twitter.com/BTCdWeXj9n
— jeremy taché (@jeremytache) April 2, 2023
The Tampa pitching was lights out. Led by starter Jeffery Spring who punched out 12 in six scoreless innings and had everything working for him; especially his fastball and slider which he doesn’t use often. The bullpen then entered and backed him up as they only allowed one run which was a homer hit in the ninth inning by Jake Rogers.
All 12 of Jeffrey Springs Ks today
18 out of 19 first pitch strikes
41% CSW
9 CH whiffs pic.twitter.com/3JLs8kxowF— Alex Fast (@AlexFast8) April 2, 2023
The Tampa offense had themselves a nice start to the season; Most notably Wander Franco who is slashing .625/.667/1.250/1.917 through the first three games of the season. In today’s contest, Franco went two for three with an RBI Double.
Wander Franco has three doubles in three games. #RaysUp pic.twitter.com/PjRqZuTSsu
— Bally Sports Sun: Rays (@BallyRays) April 2, 2023
Going back, the Randy Arozarena homer was a fun one. Leaving the bat at 107.2 MPH and going 436 feet in the air. The best part about the homer was what he did when passing by third base. The infamous crossing of the arms that he did in the WBC was done when rounding third base. It couldn’t have been better than that.
Can’t believe Randy Arozarena froze on the basepaths for 7 minutes during his home run trot pic.twitter.com/tBH3jRFVU1
— Razzball (@Razzball) April 2, 2023
For the Tigers on the other end, the offense was asleep. With only two hits throughout the whole game and one being a Jake Rogers homer in the ninth, the team was heavily disappointing. Thankfully, if there is a positive to take away from this game, it is the pitching. Starter Joey Wentz had three strikeouts through 5.1 innings of work. He gave up four hits and three runs.
The Rays are set to begin a three-game set against the Washington Nationals who lost two out of three against their division rivals: the Atlanta Braves. The projected starters for the Rays are expected to be Drew Rassmusseen for game one, Josh Fleming for game two, and Shane McClanahan for game three.