A tour de force: Forsythe ignites Rays

DETROIT -- Before the Rays' 8-0 victory over the Tigers on Wednesday, Tampa Bay ace Chris Archer asserted teammate Logan Forsythe deserved more national attention for his breakout season.

"Hopefully, he's opened some eyes around the league and can get recognition for his glove and his bat," Archer said.

That night, the reigning American League Player of the Week made sure 25,932 fans at Comerica Park remembered his name. Forsythe hit his 16th home run of the season with a solo blast in the sixth inning, and he also tallied a run-scoring double to get the offense started in the fourth.

Over his last 10 games, Forsythe is batting .425 with eight extra-base hits. He has been held hitless in consecutive games just once since the All-Star break.

"You can see the confidence [when] he's going up to the plate," said Rays manager Kevin Cash. "We've seen it for a lot of the year, but it seems like over the last month or so, he's shown that much more.

"He is a definite force, a very impactful offensive player in the league. He continues to have quality at-bats."

Forsythe had several of them Wednesday, the first of which was his bloop RBI double. With two runners on but behind in the count, 0-2, Forsythe reached for a Kyle Lobstein changeup that was down and away. The ball landed just fair down the right-field line, plating Mikie Mahtook from second.

Video: TB@DET: Forsythe doubles in Mahtook for the lead

Then came the opposite-field knock in the sixth, which gave Forsythe his 36th multi-hit game of the season. It also seemed to spark the rest of Tampa Bay's offense, as three of the next seven batters -- Tim Beckham, J.P. Arencibia and Mahtook -- added solo shots of their own.

It marked the Rays' second game this year with four home runs, matching the mark set Aug. 4 against the White Sox.

"When Logan hit the homer, I felt like the floodgates opened up," Mahtook said. "Baseball is a contagious game. Once he did that, and the next guy did it, and the next guy did it, it was one of those things where that's when baseball gets really fun."

Forsythe reached once more by working a walk in the seventh, though he was eventually stranded at third base. But by then, the game had all but been decided, with Forsythe leading the charge -- which was no surprise to Cash, and even less so to Archer.