It was all Atlanta from the start tonight in Port Charlotte as they beat the Rays by a score of 12-0. Yonny Chirinos had a rough outing as he gave up 6 hits and 4 runs which included a Peter O’Brien solo blast in the 2nd inning. He would exit in the 3rd inning before recording a single out. His hopes of making the starting rotation when the regular season comes around are starting to dwindle as his spring ERA is now a miserable 18.00. On a bright note, Chaz Roe had a great day on the bump giving up just one hit and striking out 2 Braves in the one inning he pitched. Jose Alvarado and Shane McClanahan were also lights out tonight. Alvarado struck out the side after hitting the first batter of the inning and McClanahan struck out two the next inning. Alvarado’s near perfect outing was a very good sign for the Rays as his arsenal could be very deadly for opposing hitters.
The offense struggled to get the bats going tonight as they tallied just 6 hits and failed to cross home plate the whole game. Some bright spots from the Tampa hitters tonight were the performances of Brandon Lowe and Willy Adames, the pair that played up the middle for the Rays last year. Lowe recorded 2 singles improving his batting average to .364 for the spring so far. Willy reached base twice tonight with a base on balls and a double to center field. Adames is now hitting .375 for the spring giving the double play duo a great start. Despite the rough team performance, this offense has shown that they have some fire power. Every offense is going to have days where nothing goes right, so this shouldn’t be too worrysome for Rays fans. Nevertheless, they will take on the Twins at home tomorrow afternoon hoping to have better fortunes.
Tampa Bay Rays Reviews 