Inside The Rays

Rays Red-Hot Offense Rolls Past Tigers 8-3 on Saturday

Tampa Bay's 8-3 win over the Detroit Tigers on Saturday secured another series victory and once again proved the Rays can hang with the best teams in baseball.
Don Strouble|
Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Junior Caminero (13) celebrates after hitting a home run against the Detroit Tigers in the fourth inning at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Junior Caminero (13) celebrates after hitting a home run against the Detroit Tigers in the fourth inning at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

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TAMPA, Fla. — For the second weekend in a row, the Tampa Bay Rays secured a series win over one of baseball's juggernauts, this time beating the MLB-leading Detroit Tigers on Saturday, 8-3.

After outscoring the New York Mets 24-9 to sweep the series on the road during Father's Day weekend, Tampa Bay is on the cusp of sweeping Detroit thanks to its relentless offense for the second straight day.

After scoring 14 runs in a series-opening win on Friday night, The Rays — who lead the majors in hard-hit balls — continued their onslaught in Saturday's matinee showdown.

Detroit went with an opener on Saturday — a trick the Rays are very familiar with through the eyars, but Tampa Bay made life miserable for starter Brant Hurter, who allowed four runs in the first inning, though none of them were earned.

The rally started with Brandon Lowe reaching first on an passed ball by Detroit catcher Jake Rogers that otherwise would have been a strikeout.

After Junior Caminero struck out, Jonathan Aranda delivered a two-out double that brought Lowe to third. Walks to Christopher Morel and Josh Lowe brought Lowe home and loaded the bases before Jose Caballero was hit by a pitch, bringing Aranda across home plate.

After delivering a three-RBI double the night prior, shortstop Taylor Walls came through again, this time with a two-RBI single to center to make it 4-0. The Rays did all of their first-inning scoring while clinging on to their final out and didn't look back.

Tampa Bay used the bottom of the fourth to pad their growing lead even more, thanks to a pair of home runs by Danny Jansen and Junior Caminero to make it 7-1.

All the while, Rays starter Ryan Pepiot (5-6) was fanning batters. Pepiot recorded seven strikeouts, and allowed just three hits and one earned run in five innings pitched, marking consecutive starts in which Pepiot has allowed one or no runs.

Christopher Morel crushed a 434-foot solo shot to left and out of George Steinbrenner Field to make it 8-1 in the bottom of the seventh. The Tigers managed to tack on two late runs, but it didn't matter.

Saturday's win marks the seventh time in nine games the Rays have scored seven or more runs.

Tampa Bay — now an MLB-best 22-8 since May 20 — aims to sweep Detroit on Sunday at 12:10 p.m. ET.

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Don Strouble
DON STROUBLE

Don Strouble is a sports journalist who covers Tampa Bay Rays baseball and other sports for the ‘’On SI’’ network. He is a Northeast Ohio native and currently lives in Orlando, Fla.

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