Tampa Bay starter Jeffrey Springs was dominant over six no-hit innings, Randy Arozarena homered and scored twice and the Rays swept their three-game series with the Detroit Tigers thanks to a 5-1 victory on Sunday afternoon in St. Petersburg, Fla.
In the six frames, Springs (1-0) fanned a career-high 12 — six by changeup — and walked one in an 81-pitch outing. The left-hander faced just 19 batters.
Wander Franco was 2-for-3 with a double, run, walk and a stolen base. Jose Siri singled, drove in two runs and swiped a bag. Isaac Paredes added an RBI single.
In the sweep, Tampa Bay outscored the Tigers 21-3 and outhit them 27-14.
In 5 1/3 innings, Detroit starter Joey Wentz (0-1) allowed three runs on four hits while striking out three with a walk.
Riley Greene broke up the no-hitter in the seventh with an infield single. Jake Rogers spoiled the shutout with a ninth-inning homer.
First pitch of the game was delayed 20 minutes due to a pregame ceremony honoring the late Don Zimmer, who became the inaugural inductee into the Rays Hall of Fame for his 66 years in baseball.
Starting Sunday as one of only four undefeated teams, the Rays couldn’t get to Wentz early, but the Tigers were equally overwhelmed by Springs’ mastery.
After producing eight extra-base hits in Saturday’s 12-2 win, Tampa Bay managed just a single by Taylor Walls and a walk and stolen base by Franco against Wentz through three innings.
For the second straight game, Arozarena put the home side on the board first by reaching down and scooping a knee-high, four-seam fastball from Wentz in the fourth.
The left fielder launched the shot deep to left, with the blast traveling 436 feet for his first homer after going deep 20 times in each of the past two seasons.
In the sixth, the Rays added insurance when Paredes singled in Franco. Then Siri drove in two more with an identically-placed hard grounder up the middle to make it 4-0.
Greene broke up the no-hitter by beating out a grounder chopped wide of first base against Colin Poche.
After singling, Brandon Lowe eventually scored on a wild pitch in the eighth, and Detroit’s Rogers went deep to left-center field off Jalen Beeks leading off the ninth.
–Field Level Media
