ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. _ The Rays were eager to have All-Star outfielder Austin Meadows in their lineup for the first time this season Tuesday, having gone into play against the Red Sox having lost five straight, and looking bad in doing so.
And it didn't take long to see why.
With Meadows back atop the order and rapping two hits, the Rays stopped their skid with a 5-1 win over the Red Sox, the most runs they scored in a week.
Meadows did his part to help, tripling in one run and scoring another. And his teammates showed their appreciation of having him back. Hunter Renfroe had a two-run, go-ahead double. Joey Wendle smacked three hits. Charlie Morton worked 5 2/3 strong innings. The bullpen provided solid relief, especially Pete Fairbanks.
The Rays' top offensive player and co-MVP last year, Meadows had been sidelined since testing positive for COVID-19 after the initial July 3 Spring 2.0 session, resuming workouts July 25 in Port Charlotte. He was activated Tuesday morning.
"It's been a pretty long road," Meadows said. "I'm just glad I'm here now."
Having scored just 13 runs in the five losses on the road, the Rays (5-6) are hoping Meadows will lead them to more productivity _ and more wins.
"We missed Austin in a lot of ways," Wendle said. "In the clubhouse and as a person, but obviously in the lineup. His numbers last year speak for themselves, but I don't think that does what he did last year justice. Just the presence he was in our lineup makes the hitters around him better."
The Red Sox took a 1-0 lead on a Mitch Moreland homer off Morton, but the Rays took the lead for good in the fourth with a two-out rally capped by Renfroe's double, which came after what looked to be a single on a ball off the catwalk was ruled foul; two more in the fifth when Meadows tripled in Michael Perez, then scored on Brandon Lowe's single. A Ji-Man Choi sacrifice fly in the eighth made it 5-1.
Morton allowed five hits but just the one run over 5 2/3 innings, throwing 93 pitches. Aaron Loup and Fairbanks (who struck out J.D. Martinez and Xander Bogaerts with two on in the eighth) were impressive. After Ryan Thompson loaded the bases in the ninth, Nick Anderson finished, striking out Jose Peraza and Andrew Benintendi looking at nasty pitches.
Meadows was quite a hit in his first full major league season in 2019, leading the Rays with a .291 average, 31 homers, 89 RBIs and a .558 slugging percentage. But how he did it, the number of big hits he had, was even more impressive.
"He brings such a steady presence in the lineup," manager Kevin Cash said before the game. "Offensively, what he did last year was pretty remarkable and the consistency that he showed. I think he had one stretch where he went quiet, but other than that he was as consistent as any player in baseball.
"It seemed like whatever the moment was, he didn't amp up to it, he just stayed within himself and really did a lot of special things for us with driving the ball out of the ballpark, finding ways to hit singles, staying on pitches. ...
"It's really, really nice to have him back."
The three weeks Meadows was out of action due to the infection he said he caught from his wife Alexis were a challenge physically and mentally.
In what was considered a mild case overall, Meadows, 25, said the first three-four days he was too fatigued to even get out of bed, that he had cold-like symptoms after that _ though no fever or chest tightness as some have had _ and is just now getting back his sense of taste and smell.
"I had to remind myself I was hungry, believe it or not," he said. "It was really weird. Everything was like cardboard."
The greater challenge was not getting too down about the situation.
"Just not feeling great and also not being able to go anywhere with the isolation," he said. "We're used to getting out and interacting with people. That isolation can really get to you mentally, especially when it's for a long period of time. Three weeks is a long period of time. It feels like it's a lot longer."
Having Alexis help him through it was beneficial.
"Huge to have that moral support with her being there taking care of me," Meadows said. "Just having that positive light. I think a lot of people need that at certain times like these."
Once better physically, Meadows needed some time to "jumpstart everything" and get back into shape (admittedly putting on a few pounds during quarantine) and baseball form, taking batting practice, doing baserunning drills and playing simulated games in the sweltering Port Charlotte sun.
Meadows participated in the six weeks of informal workouts at the Trop before Spring 2.0, but started to feel sick shortly thereafter. He said Alexis had a mild case of COVID-19 that she got over in a week, and though they tried to stay apart at their rental home, he soon started feeling sick and told the Rays staff.
"We did all the right things and she just happened to get it," Meadows said. "So we had to wear masks and sleep in different beds. It was pretty bad _ I'm not going to lie. But we were pretty smart about it. Luckily we're back, we're healthy and we're good to go."
