Well, it was the two best teams in baseball kicking off the first game of three on Friday night. It featured a great pitching dual between former teammates Charlie Morton and Tyler Glasnow, and of course the long ball on both sides of the field. This was the first time these two teams faced off since 2021, last playing at Tropicana Field since 2020.
The first run of the night was scored by Wander Franco after he connected with a solo homer into the right field seats. Franco is one of the four Ray American League All-Stars this MLB season, which were honored pregame after they all received their All-Star jerseys.
The turning point of the game though came when Sean Murphy hit a 2-run homer in the top of the 4th against Tyler Glasnow which gave the Braves a 2–1 lead. The homer came immediately after Brandon Lowe made an error at second to continue the inning.
Elvin Rodriguez made his Rays debut on Friday, and pitched as perfect as one could do it, 2.1 innings pitched, while striking out 4 and did not give up any hits or runs.
Kevin Cash spoke postgame about the 6 game losing streak, and how this team can turn it around:
Brandon Lowe also spoke postgame about the offensive struggling, and his error in the 4th that lead to a 2-run homer the next at-bat by Murphy:
The Rays look to stop the bleeding on Saturday night! Coverage on the Rays Radio Network will begin at 6:30pmET with Chris Adams-Wall and then Andy Freed and Neil Solondz will have the play-by-play with first pitch at 7:15pmET!
