ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. _ Hunter Renfroe had to wait until his fourth game in a Rays uniform to get his first hits with his new team. But once those hits came, the impact he can potentially make on the Tampa Bay batting order became very clear.
He can do some damage.
Renfroe entered Monday night hitless in his first eight plate appearances before pushing a single just to the right of the mound and through an infield shift, then crushed a pair of loud home runs into an empty Section 149 in left-centerfield, pacing the Rays to a 14-5 shellacking of the Atlanta Braves.
The Rays (3-1) hit five homers in their biggest offensive outburst of the young season. Renfroe's home runs were not only the Rays' two hardest-hit balls of the night, but of the season.
Renfroe's first homer, a three-run shot off Braves starter Mike Foltynewicz, paced an eight-run fourth inning that broke open a 1-1 game. He took a 1-0 sinker about 10 rows up _ an estimated 420 feet at an exit velocity of 108.5 mph.
His second homer, a solo shot off Atlanta reliever Touki Toussaint, was launched at an exit velocity of 109.7 mph and ricocheted off the seats in left-center. Mike Zunino and Joey Wendle also homered for the Rays. Jose Martinez hit his first Tampa Bay homer in the eighth.
All nine batters in the starting lineup scored at least once, with Zunino, Renfroe, Brandon Lowe and Wendle each scoring two runs.
Tyler Glasnow allowed just one hit over four innings in his first start of the season. It was clear early that Glasnow, who missed the first 11 days of summer camp because of COVID-19, had his best stuff. Against the second batter he faced, he blew a 100-mph fastball past Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies, and he mixed a fastball that averaged 97.7 mph with a low-80s curveball to strike out nine of the 15 batters he faced.
The Braves put the ball in play just four times against Glasnow _ their only damage against him a solo homer by shortstop Dansby Swanson in the second inning _ but he appeared destined for a quick outing early because he needed 48 pitches to get through his first two innings.
But Glasnow needed just nine pitches to get through the third and struck out the side in the fourth.
Then the Rays offense came to life with their biggest inning in nearly five years. Their eight-run bottom of the fourth marked the most runs scored in an inning since a nine-run first against Toronto on Oct. 4, 2015.
Rays pitchers struck out 19 batters, setting a club record for most in a nine-inning game. Diego Castillo struck out two in a perfect fifth, Jalen Beeks recorded seven strikeouts in his three relief innings, and Jose Alvarado had one strikeout in a scoreless ninth.
