The Rays offense finally came alive Monday night pounding out 13 hits as they beat up on the Atlanta Braves 14-5 Monday night at Tropicana Field.
After hitting just .188 against the Blue Jays over the weekend, the Rays bats came alive in a big way.
Hunter Renfroe looked like the player that hit 33 home runs last season as hit two homers tonight and drove in four runs tonight and had three hits.
“Everybody wants to go up there and have a good at-bat. Move the line and hope to keep pouring it on” Renfroe said after his two-homer night.
Brandon Lowe stayed hot as he went two for three and drove in two runs.
Mike Foltynewicz the Braves starter gave up six runs in just over three innings and was optioned after the game. The Braves are the favorites to win the National League East this year and are 2-2 out of the gate.
The Rays hit five home runs tonight with Renfroe hitting two, Jose Martinez, Joey Wendle, and Mike Zunino all hitting their first home runs of the season.
Kevin Cash was excited to see the Rays bat come alive “This group on a given night can be pretty special. “We were confident we were going to be fine, and it was a quiet weekend. We’re fortunate to come away winning those ballgames with the bats kind of firing up late.”
Cash then went on to talk about Renfroe’s big night “He’s a confident guy. He’s got that ability to be a game-changer for us.”
Rays pitcher Tyler Glasnow after a couple of rough innings found his groove and looked the Glasnow of 2019 as he struck out nine in four innings of work.
Glasnow used his fastball and breaking ball to keep the Braves in check as he got his first win of the season.
Jalen Beeks was roughed up a bit giving up three runs in three innings of work but did have seven strikeouts. All of that damage coming in the bottom of the sixth inning when the Braves got to Beeks for all three runs.
The Rays set a franchise record tonight as they had 19 strikeouts. Glasnow led the way with nine, followed by Beeks with seven, Castillo had two, and Alvarado finished with one.
More Good news for the Rays offense today as outfielder Austin Meadow was cleared for baseball activity. Meadows will be in Port Charlotte as he works his way back into baseball shape as he missed all of summer camp.
Cash said that Meadows will not play until he is 100 percent.
Baseball has seen record ratings since the start of the season on Thursday. And the Rays set a few records themselves.
The 4.0 rating the Rays generated for their opener was the number one program on cable and the number one program in primetime and was the most-watched Opening Day since 2016.
Sun Sports also reported that viewership was 82 percent higher compared to Opening Day 2019.
