MLB wrap: Rays hammer Twins to win sixth straight; will fans notice?

Arthur Weinstein

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MLB wrap: Rays hammer Twins to win sixth straight; will fans notice? image

The Rays entered Thursday's home game against the Twins with one of the best records in baseball yet ranked next-to-last in MLB attendance.

The Rays (35-19) banged out 16 hits in a 14-3 win over the AL Central-leading Twins. It is Tampa Bay's sixth-straight victory, and moves them within a half-game of the idle first-place Yankees in the AL East.

Charlie Morton yielded only two runs in seven innings to run his record to 6-0. And Austin Meadows cleared the bases with a double to key a six-run third inning. 

Ji-Man Choi later added a two-run homer and Brandon Lowe had two hits and three RBIs.

Unfortunately, only 8,076 fans turned out to see the Rays hammer the Twins. As bad as that number sounds, it wasn't as woeful as Tuesday's debacle against the Blue Jays, when the club drew only 5,786, the smallest home crowd in franchise history (things weren't much better the next night, when 6,166 turned out).

Much has been written about the Rays' attendance woes. Tropicana Field is in a bad location, and, to put it kindly, is an unremarkable stadium. Tampa Bay doesn't have the type of generational fan support enjoyed by many other franchises that have been around for many decades.

And frankly, the Rays haven't given fans much to cheer about through the years, with losing records in 14 of their 21 seasons.

But these Rays are really good, and a fun team. Good young players such as Meadows, Lowe, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow, and veterans like Morton, Kevin Kiermaier and Tommy Pham appear ready to keep Tampa Bay in the AL East hunt all season.

For fans who like winning baseball, plenty of good seats are available at Tropicana Field.

Studs of the Night

Dodgers left hander Hyun-Jin Ryu pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings against the Mets.

Trevor Story and David Dahl both had four hits in the Rockies' 11-10 win over the Diamondbacks.

Marlins right hander Sandy Alcantara pitched six scoreless innings in a 3-1 loss to the Giants.

Duds of the Night

Royals outfielders Chris Owings and Billy Hamilton both struck out in all four plate appearances in Kansas City's 4-2 win against the Rangers.

Diamondbacks right hander Taylor Clarke lasted only two innings against the Rockies, giving up five earned runs in Arizona's loss.

Highlights

Daniel Murphy's single with two outs in the 10th inning gave the Rockies an 11-10 victory over the Diamondbacks. It's Colorado's fourth walk-off hit in the past seven games. 

Cardinals right fielder Dexter Fowler takes a souvenir away from the fans and ends the game with this leaping grab in St. Louis' 5-3 win over the Phillies.

What's Next

Red Sox (29-27) at Yankees (36-19), 7:05 p.m. ET — The Yankees somehow have one of the best records in baseball this season despite seeing a bunch of stars sidelined by injury at various points. On the other hand, no one expected the reigning World Series champion Red Sox to be only two games over .500 at this point. After a rocky April, Boston's Chris Sale has found his form, with a 2.23 ERA in May. He'll face fellow left hander J.A. Happ (4-3, 5.09 ERA).

Arthur Weinstein