Detroit Tigers at Tampa Bay Rays

· Major League Baseball

Detroit Tigers

0-2, 0-2 Away

Final
2 - 12

Tampa Bay Rays

2-0, 2-0 Home

Zach Eflin shines, Rays offense roars in 12-2 rout of Tigers

The 28-year-old right-hander is off to a nice start after signing the largest free-agent contract in Rays history, pitching five strong innings and getting lots of offensive support in a 12-2 rout of the Detroit Tigers on Saturday.

Yandy Díaz and Wander Franco each had three hits and three RBI for the Rays, who scored seven times in the third inning to ruin right-hander Spencer Turnbull's first major league outing for the Tigers since June 4, 2021.

The Rays have made the playoffs each of the past four years and advanced to the World Series during the 2020 pandemic-shortened season. Offensive shortcomings contributed to coming up short in the postseason each of those appearances.

Manager Kevin Cash and his players think this year's lineup has the potential to be better, even though most of the faces are the same.

“I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I think we have the best lineup,” Díaz said through a translator.

“It was a good day at the yard ... beautiful to watch,” Eflin said, noting the pitching, defense and bats were all superb.

About the only thing that hasn't gone Tampa Bay's way in consecutive wins over Detroit to begin the season is Eflin drew a pitch-clock violation before his first delivery to Zach McKinstry in the second inning.

The right-hander wound up striking out McKinstry wth two runners on to end the inning.

Jose Siri and Josh Lowe each contributed two-run doubles in the third off Turnbull (0-1), who allowed seven runs and eight hits in 2 1/3 innings after missing the second half of 2021 and all of 2022 while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery.

“I'm definitely pretty disappointed. Not exactly the way I was hoping the day would go,” Turnbull said. “Mostly it was disappointing because I didn't give us a chance to win.”

Eflin (1-0) began last season in Philadelphia's rotation, but helped the Phillies reach the World Series as part of the bullpen after being sidelined more than two months with a right knee bruise. His $40 million, three-year deal with the Rays surpassed the $35 million, five-year contract the club gave Wilson Álvarez before its inaugural 1998 season.

The right-hander, who turns 29 next week, allowed one run and three hits in a 74-pitch debut. He yielded a RBI single in the fourth to Miguel Cabrera, who moved ahead of Ichiro Suzuki for sole possession of 23rd place on the all-time hits list with 3,090.

Kerry Carpenter, who doubled leading off the fourth, and Spencer Torkelson had Detroit's other hits off Eflin.

Randy Arozarena got Tampa Bay's offense rolling with a RBI double in the first. Díaz had a run-scoring double in the third and two-run homer off Tyler Alexander in the fourth, when Tampa Bay built the lead to 10-1.

Franco had a RBI single and two-run double, which made it 12-2 in the seventh.

“Pretty explosive,” Cash said. “When you score 12, a lot of people have to be part of it.”

TRAINER'S ROOM

Rays 2B Brandon Lowe left the game after fouling a pitch off his right big toe in the third inning. He said the injury is not serious.

“No concern,” Lowe said. “Everything looks fine. A little sore ... but this early in the season it make sense to take precautions.”

MIGGY TRIBUTE

The 38-year-old Cabrera has announced that this will be his final season. The Rays recognized him during a brief video scoreboard tribute between the first and second innings, concluding: “Thanks for the memories, Miggy.”

With two outs and a runner on in the second, Cabrera hit a sharp bouncer that deflected off third baseman Taylor Walls' glove. The play intially was ruled an infield single, but later changed to an error on Walls.

Lefty Jeffrey Springs, who signed a $31 million, four-year contract after moving from the bullpen to a starting role in 2022, takes the mound for the Rays in Sunday's series finale. The Tigers counter with left-hander Joey Wentz.

How can I watch Detroit Tigers vs. Tampa Bay Rays?

TV Channel: Tigers at Rays 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.tv.
Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Scoring Summary

	9th Inning	Haase grounded into fielder's choice to third, Cabrera out at third.
	9th Inning	McKinstry singled to right, Cabrera to second.
	9th Inning	Cabrera walked.
	9th Inning	Torkelson struck out looking.
	9th Inning	Rogers struck out swinging.
	9th Inning	Faucher relieved Cleavinger

Statistics

DET		TB
1	Games Played	1
1	Team Games Played	1
0	Hit By Pitch	2
12	Ground Balls	10
10	Strikeouts	15
2	Runs Batted In	12
0	Sacrifice Hit	0
6	Hits	13
0	Stolen Bases	0
2	Walks	7
0	Catcher Interference	0
2	Runs	12
1	Ground Into Double Play	1
0	Sacrifice Flies	0
34	At Bats	36
0	Home Runs	1
0	Grand Slam Home Runs	0
13	Runners Left On Base	22
0	Triples	0
0	Game Winning RBIs	1
0	Intentional Walks	0
2	Doubles	7
12	Fly Balls	11
0	Caught Stealing	0
138	Pitches	191
0	Games Started	0
0	Pinch At Bats	1
0	Pinch Hits	0
0.0	Player Rating	0.0
1	Is Qualified	1
0	Is Qualified In Steals	0
8	Total Bases	23
36	Plate Appearances	45
0.0	Projected Home Runs	162.0
2	Extra Base Hits	8
1.1	Runs Created	10.4
.176	Batting Average	.361
.000	Pinch Hit Average	.000
.235	Slugging Percentage	.639
.118	Secondary Average	.472
.222	On Base Percentage	.489
.458	OBP Pct + SLG Pct	1.128
1.0	Ground To Fly Ball Ratio	0.9
1.0	Runs Created Per 27 Outs	11.7
18.0	Batter Rating	78.0
0.0	At Bats Per Home Run	36.0
0.00	Stolen Base Percentage	0.00
3.83	Pitches Per Plate Appearance	4.24
.059	Isolated Power	.278
0.20	Walk To Strikeout Ratio	0.47
.056	Walks Per Plate Appearance	.156
-.059	Secondary Average Minus Batting Average	.111
4.0	Runs Produced	24.0
1.0	Runs Ratio	1.0
0.3	Patience Ratio	0.8
0.3	Balls In Play Average	0.6
68.0	MLB Rating	111.8
0.0	Offensive Wins Above Replacement	0.0
0.0	Wins Above Replacement	0.0