A Shut-Out, Outstanding Pitching And A Strong Healthy Offense Give The Rays An Opening Weekend Sweep

By Lily Belcher

The Rays started off their 25th anniversary season with a three-game sweep against the Tigers on Opening Weekend. A young, sharp offense collected 21 runs and a balanced rotation held Detroit to just three runs.

Donning their Devil Rays jerseys, something Rays fans will see often this season, Tampa Bay shut out their Opening Day opponents for the first time in franchise history. Shane McClanahan made his second consecutive Opening Day start and acquired his first win of the season with six innings pitched and an equal number of strikeouts.

“It was a pretty good game…a very Rays’ like win. We’ll sign up for those types of wins a lot,” said skipper Kevin Cash

A sold-out Tropicana Field was treated to a promising 4-0 win with the support of a *knock on wood* healthy offense. Centerfielder Jose Siri, who is likely stepping into the position permanently, knocked a solo shot over the leftfield wall for the first homer of the season.

Wander Franco scored his own home run in the eighth for the final run of the shut-out.

Luke Raley and World Baseball Classic star Randy Arozarena picked up a pair of RBI in the sixth. Arozarena took the opportunity to strike his new, signature arms-crossed pose he adopted in the offseason.

“It feels good that [fans are] able to strike a pose with me as well, be able to take a picture, and it really makes me feel good that they like it,” said Arozarena after the game, backed by an enthusiastic crowd with early MVP chants for the leftfielder.

Cash credited Arozarena for his personality on the field and engaging with the left field fans between batters.

“Just the personality, the character, the way he embraces his role on the team, maybe his role in the community a little bit with how the fanbase has grown to love him, for good reasons because he’s a really good player. He’s just a good guy to have in the clubhouse and certainly, when he’s doing special things, he enjoys doing it and can express himself in the right way,” said Cash.

With an odd day off to break up the series, Zach Eflin made his debut in a Rays uniform in game 2 on April 1. The 29-year-old righty gave up one run with five strikeouts in his five frames. He also committed Tampa Bay’s first pitch clock violation. *Take a second to roll your eyes*

The Rays stacked on 12 runs, including a breakout seven-run third inning, to outscore the Tigers 12-2. The team scored seven doubles off Detroit pitching, two of which belonged to Franco. Franco and Yandy Diaz picked up three RBI each, including multiple hits with two-outs.

“It was nice to get some runs on the board [and] watch those guys go to work. [They] played great defense today and obviously hit the ball all over the place, put some really good at bats together and got some important runs in important situations. So, it kind of freed me up and allowed me to go straight after guys,” said Eflin.

With the series secured, the Rays put southpaw Jeffrey Springs on the mound, who stepped into a starter position since joining the Rays in 2021. Springs tossed a career-high of 12 strikeouts with five looking (another career-high) in his six hitless innings.

“I felt pretty good. I felt like I was able to mix and move pretty well. I felt the fastball was pretty good early and trying to use secondary pitches off of that,” said Springs.

Arozarena put the Rays on the board with a fourth inning home run. Siri hit a two-RBI single in the sixth with bases loaded and two-outs, continuing the Rays’ recent success with runners in scoring position.

“You can’t ask for much more. We’ve pitched well, we’ve played good defense behind, and we’ve had an offense break out yesterday, but some big timely hits in game 1 and game 3,” said Cash about the sweep.

With a sweep on opening weekend, the Rays look like the promising and exciting young team that has made the playoffs four years in a row.

The Rays will travel to Washington to face the Nationals (1-2) on Monday. Drew Rasmussen and Josh Fleming are set to take the mound in the final two days of the Rays’ rotation.