ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — After two straight games in which they needed to dramatically walk off wins, the Rays kept things short and simple Sunday. They hit homers early and cruised to a 4-1 win over the White Sox in front of a crowd of 22,702 at Tropicana Field.
There wasn’t much suspense, as Tampa Bay is making this routine.
The Rays are the first team since the 2009 Dodgers to start a season 13-0 at home. Only the 1907 New York Giants have a longer streak, winning their first 15 games at home.
The Rays improved to 19-3 for the season, while the White Sox dropped to 7-15.
In the second inning, Luke Raley barreled up a first-pitch, 78 mph change-up and rocketed it to the video board in right field. The 442-foot, two-run shot extended the Rays’ major league-leading streak of home runs to 22 consecutive games to start the season.
Harold Ramirez’s third-inning homer was his fifth of the season — he hit six all last year – and the Rays’ major league-leading 48th.
Christian Bethancourt doubled and scored on Yandy Diaz’s groundout in the second for the Rays’ fourth run off Lucas Giolito. The Rays never before had scored more than three runs off the White Sox right-hander, and Giolito had allowed just two home runs in his first two starts of the season.
“I think that certainly guys are feeding off each other right now. Things are going really, really well for us, and why not embrace it like they appear to be doing?” Rays manager Kevin Cash said before the game. “It doesn’t come like this all the time. So, I’m glad they’re enjoying it. I’m glad that they’re staying within themselves with their approach.”
The Rays also got some much-needed good news on the mound.
Zach Eflin was efficient in his first start since going on the injured list with a lower-back issue on April 7. After Luis Robert led off the game with a bloop single that a diving Manuel Margot just missed, Eflin retired nine straight until Andrew Benintendi hit a hard double to start the fourth. The White Sox leftfielder scored on Eloy Jimenez’s double off the wall, but Eflin settled back down and retired the next five hitters before calling it a day.
Eflin allowed one run on three hits over five innings. He struck out four and did not walk a batter.
Yonny Chirinos followed with three perfect innings, and Pete Fairbanks picked up his third save of the season. In the process, Fairbanks extended his franchise record for consecutive scoreless innings to 29-1/3, dating back to July 25, 2022.
