Rays strike late to top Halos, take 3rd straight

May 8th, 2016

ANAHEIM -- Logan Forsythe's two-run single in the ninth gave the Rays a 4-2 win over the Angels Saturday night at Angel Stadium.
Forsythe faced Angels right-hander Joe Smith with two outs and the bases loaded and delivered a single to center that scored Logan Morrison and Kevin Kiermaier. Erasmo Ramirez earned his sixth win of the season, while Alex Colome pitched a scoreless ninth to pick up his eighth save.
"It's great, anytime you come up clutch, help the team win ... especially on the road," Forsythe said. "We got a series win tonight. It's a good start to the road trip."
Cast your Esurance All-Star ballot for Forsythe and other #ASGWorthy players
The Rays are now off to a 2-0 start on their six-game West Coast road trip while moving to .500 on the season at 14-14. The Angels fell to 13-17.

Runs were hard to come by in the early going. Andrelton Simmons' two-run single in the fifth accounted for the only runs the Angels scored against Rays starter Jake Odorizzi, who had a six-inning no-decision.
"I'm hitting the ball a little better and I'm trying to build on that." Simmons said. "I felt pretty good today. Able to lay off some pitches that I've been offering at and that's a good sign."
Steven Souza Jr. 's two-run homer in the sixth proved to be the only blemish on Angels starter Jered Weaver's line in six innings of work as he, too, took a no-decision.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Bit by the shift:
The Rays' infield was shifted to the left for right-handed hitting Johnny Giavotella when he batted with a runner on first in the bottom of the fifth. Giavotella hit the ball slightly to the left of second base, which prevented Rays second baseman Forsythe from getting the force at second. He had to throw across his body to first, resulting in a one-hopper to Morrison and Giavotella being safe. The play turned out to be a big one, because the runners were bunted into scoring position for the first out of the inning before Simmons singled to left to score both runners and give the Angels a 2-0 lead.

Weaver escapes: The Angels almost fell behind in the top of the fifth inning when Kiermaier singled to lead off, and then stole both second and third to be standing on third with just one out. But using an assortment of pitches clocked between 67 and 83 mph, Weaver struck out Forsythe and got Brad Miller to pop up, stranding Kiermaier 90 feet away. More >
Souza blast: The Rays had just fallen behind 2-0 in the bottom of the fifth when Corey Dickerson reached first on a throwing error by Angels first baseman Albert Pujols with one out in the inning. Souza then stepped to the plate and worked the count against Weaver to full when he connected on a 75-mph slider. When the ball landed on the other side of the left-field fence, Souza had his seventh home run of the season and the Rays were tied at 2.
"Just one he left over the plate," Souza said. "I think he tried to throw the same exact pitch that I took before and came down and hung a little more."

QUOTABLE
"It's not something you see every day, a righty throwing 81. But he did a good job mixing his speeds. Kept us off balance." -- Souza on Weaver
"He did some smart baserunning right there. I didn't throw the ball high enough, and he got what he was looking for. It worked out for him." --Simmons on his throwing error in the ninth inning that hit Souza in the back during a rundown

SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
The Rays are now 9-1 when scoring more than three runs in a game.
UNDER REVIEW
The Rays challenged when Giavotella was called safe at first with no outs in the bottom of the fifth. Morrison had to field a one-hopper from Forsythe, and Morrison's his foot appeared to come off the base. After a 2 minute and 35 second delay, the ruling came back that the call stood.

WHAT'S NEXT
Rays:Matt Andriese will be activated to start Sunday for the Rays, with first pitch at 3:35 p.m. ET. Though he spent much of 2015 with the Rays, this will be his first Major League action of '16, as he's spent the first part of the season at Triple-A Durham where he's pitched well. Tuesday night he struck out a career-high 14 for the Bulls against Indianapolis.
Angels:Nick Tropeano takes the mound for the sixth time this season in his first career start against the Rays at 12:35 p.m. PT. Tropeano allowed a season-high five earned runs in his last start, snapping a streak of seven straight starts allowing two-or-fewer runs.
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