The Tampa Bay Rays used a trio of home runs along with three hits from Ji-Man Choi in his season debut and five shutouts innings from Josh Fleming to help complete a three-game weekend swwp of the New York Mets by taking Sunday’s finale 7-1 at Tropicana Field.
Fleming (3-3) allowed just one hit, a single by Jeff McNeil that started the game, and ended up facing the minimum in his fove innings of work, striking out five and not allowing a walk.
Mets starter Marcus Stroman allowed just one hit through the first three innings, a first-inning single by Choi, before the Rays finally got on the scoreboard in the fourth. Choi tallied his second single of the afternoon with one out in the frame, and two batters later Manuel Margot crushed his fourth home run of the season.
Stroman allowed Tampa Bay to double its lead an inning later as Francisco Mejia, who was activated from the injured list prior to Sunday’s game, was hit by a pitch and Willy Adames connected for his fifth home run of the season.
New York’s final hit Sunday came in the top of the sixth, a Dief=go Castillo gave up a solo home run to Patrick Mazeika, who took over at DH for McNeil after hanstring tightness forced him to leave the game. Brandon Lowe got the run back for the Rays with a solo shot of how own in the bottom of the inning.
Choi’s third hit of the day, an eighth-inning double off Edwin Diaz, plated Austin Meadows to make the lead 6-1, and Margot drove in Choi to set the score at 7-1.
Tampa Bay will have Monday off beofre starting a three-game series in Baltimore against the Orioles
Steve Carney is the founder and publisher of St. Pete Nine. One of the people most associated with baseball coverage in Tampa Bay, he spent 13 seasons covering the Rays for flagship radio station WDAE, first as producer of Rays Radio broadcasts, then as beat reporter beginning in 2011. He likes new analytics and aged bourbon, and is the owner of one of the ugliest knuckleballs ever witnessed by baseball scouts.
