Yandy Diaz broke the Tampa Bay franchise record for longest hitting streak, Jose Siri homered twice and the Rays beat the Washington Nationals 3-1 on Friday in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Diaz made history in a quirky manner in the third inning. The reigning American League batting champion thought he walked on a 2-2 pitch from starting pitcher Mitchell Parker (5-4) and was called back as he was halfway to first base.
On the next delivery with a full count, he slashed a single to center, giving him hits in 20 straight games to break Jason Bartlett’s franchise record from 2009 and move his on-base streak to a career-high 29 games.
Siri hit solo shots in the second and sixth for his fifth career multi-homer game, his most recent coming on May 30 at home against the Oakland Athletics.
In his 15th start, starting pitcher Zach Eflin (4-5) threw six scoreless innings of four-hit ball to win for the first time since May 13. He struck out six and walked one.
Pete Fairbanks notched his 13th save in a hitless ninth.
Jonny DeLuca was 2-for-4 with a stolen base as the Rays improved to 3-1 on their six-game homestand.
Washington’s Jacob Young was 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles, a run and a stolen base as the club lost for the fourth straight time.
Parker allowed two runs and six hits. He struck out five and walked one.
Siri put the Rays up in the second when he led off by golfing an 86 mph splitter from Parker inside the left field foul pole, a Statcast-estimated 405 feet.
Isaac Paredes later rapped an RBI single to drive in Randy Arozarena for a 2-0 lead.
Washington got a one-out single from Ildemaro Vargas and a walk from Joey Meneses in the sixth, but Eflin hunkered down and got flyouts from Luis Garcia Jr. and Keibert Ruiz to close out his outing.
Siri greeted Nationals reliever Jacob Barnes with a vicious drive to center in the sixth for his 11th home run — a liner that sizzled over its 428 feet — to make it 3-0.
In the top of the seventh, Young scored an unearned run when he stole third with two outs and scored on catcher Alex Jackson’s throwing error.
Fairbanks walked Ruiz with one out in the ninth, but right fielder DeLuca made a spectacular diving catch on Eddie Rosario’s liner before the right-hander induced a weak grounder to first by Nick Senzel for the save.
–Field Level Media