The Tampa Bay Rays (91-56) defeated the Detroit Tigers (70-77) 5-2 on Thursday night at Tropicana Field. The Rays lead in the AL East stands at 8.5 games with fifteen games to play in the regular season.
Yandy Diaz homered to lead off the bottom of the first for the Rays, and Tampa Bay never looked back. Randy Arozerena made it 2-0 with a sacrifice fly later in the first inning. When the Tigers got a homer from Niko Goodrum in the fifth to pull within 2-1, the Rays pulled away with an RBI single from Manuel Margot in the bottom of the fifth, and a two run homer from Mike Zunino in the sixth. For Zunino, it was his 31st home run of the season.
Louis Head was the opener, pitching a perfect first inning for the Rays, before giving way to Dietrich Enns. Enns (2-0, 3.15) picked up his second big league win after allowing one earned run on three hits in four innings of work while striking out three and walking one.
The Rays and Tigers now meet in the second game of their four game series on Friday evening. First pitch from Tropicana Field is scheduled for 7:10 PM - pregame coverage begins with Jay Recher and the Inside Pitch at 6 PM on 95.3 WDAE & AM 620.
PHOTO COURTESY GETTY IMAGES