ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The injury-riddled Tampa Bay Rays have spent most of this summer treading water, winning a few, losing a few. They have great starting pitching — that's a given — but for months a depleted lineup struggled to score enough runs.
Just get healthy. That was the goal, the wish, the requirement.
And now that Manuel Margot (knee) and Harold Ramirez (thumb) are back in the lineup, things are different for the Rays.
Treading water? Not any more. Now the Rays are making a big splash.
They won again on Thursday, pounding the Los Angeles Angels 8-3 for the sixth straight win and completing a four-game sweep of the Angels. The Rays are now 69-55 on the season, a season-high 14 games over .500. They are 11-2 in their last 13 games, their best stretch of the year.
And is it a reach to give Margot and Ramirez a lot of credit for that? Absolutely not. Margot, who's been back for just five days after missing two months, has seven hits in five games, including four on Thursday. Ramirez, who came back Aug. 16, has hit safely in all nine games and is hitting .333 with nine RBIs in nine games, including three on Thursday.
"A lot of good hitting, a lot of good at-bats,'' Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "Manny Margot, his at-bats were pretty spectacular today. He's showing how much we missed him. Him, Harold and hopefully Wander (Franco) soon, they are big parts of our club and we know we are a better team with them in the lineup.''
The Rays scored five runs in the third inning, the seventh time they've scored five or more in a frame this year, but the third time in the past two weeks.
Margot drove in the first two runs with a triple to right, scoring Jose Siri, who had singled to lead off the inning, and Yandy Diaz, who reached on an error. Harold Ramirez drove in Margot, and then scored on a homer by Isaac Paredes, his 16th of the year.
Rasmussen pitched 5 1/3 innings and allowed just one run for his ninth win of the season. The only run allowed was a homer by Taylor Ward. He had nine strikeouts.
Rasmussen had to deal with a long of long at-bats, which ran his pitch count up. He threw 97 pitches, which tied a career high (Toronto, Aug. 2). His nine strikeouts also tied a career high, first accomplished on April 27 versus Seattle.
Rasmussen has now made five starts in August, and had allowed only five runs and 15 hits in 28 1/3 innings. He's been spectacular, as have all the Rays starters of late. Rays starters have allowed two runs or less in 13 straight starts, pitching to a 1.60 ERA over that time.
"It would have been nice to be a little more efficient, but that's a testament to their lineup that they had a lot of five, six seven-pitch at bats,'' Rasmussen said. "From a pitching standpoint, it's nice to see all of those runs. Look at the personalities we got back with Harold and Manny. They add a lot to our lineup.
"We're playing some of our best baseball right as we get guys back.''
Colin Poche got the last two outs in the sixth inning, and had a perfect seventh inning. He has pitched 4 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings since last Thursday.
Tampa Bay added three more runs in the seventh. Yandy Diaz drew a one-out walk from Touki Toussant, and Margot doubled to left. Randy Arozarena was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and then Diaz scored on a wild pitch. Ramirez singled to center, driving in two more runs to make it 8-1.
The Rays left for the Boston after the game, where they'll play the Red Sox in a three-game series this weekend.
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