ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. _ Once they got past the all the hellos and the hugs and the how's-it-goings with manager Rocco Baldelli and the four other former mates now in Twins colors, the Rays were faced with a seemingly more arduous task Thursday:
How to beat the best team in baseball.
That proved to be the easy part.
The Rays rolled to a rare no-stress victory, beating the Twins, 14-3, to extend their winning streak to a season-high six games, improve their record to 35-19 and encroach to within one-half game of the AL East-leading Yankees, who were rained out.
There was an announced crowd of 8,076 at the Trop, better than the last two nights anyway.
There was a lot that went into them scoring a season-high 14 runs, chasing Twins starter Martin Perez in the third, and winning by 11.
Among the key contributors:
Outfielder Austin Meadows, who had the biggest hit, a bases-clearing double that went past ex-Rays first baseman C.J. Cron to spark the six-run third inning that broke the game open. Meadows finished with two hits, four RBIs and a running and leaping catch in left.
Avisail Garcia, who scored three runs from the leadoff spot and had three more hits, pushing his average above .300.
Christian Arroyo, who, called up on his 24th birthday, celebrated with two doubles and two RBIs.
Brandon Lowe, who had two hits and knocked in three runs.
Ji-Man Choi, who had a two-run homer coming off the bench.
Starter Charlie Morton worked a season-high seven innings, allowing two runs on four hits with no walks and six strikeouts. He was sharp from the start, retiring the first seven. And maybe most importantly threw only 87 pitches.
Not all was good for the Rays, however.
Tommy Pham, serving as the DH Thursday, left the game in the fifth inning with what the team said was a right lower leg cramp, and was to be further evaluated after the game.
Pham pulled up while heading home in the fourth inning, and left the dugout before the Rays hit in the fifth. Choi pinch-hit for him.
Pham had had an active day, reaching base three times, on a single, a walk and a double, and scoring twice. He has been one of the Rays top players, coming into the game with a .299 average, eight homers and 26 RBIs.
Baldelli said before the game he knew it could be an interesting weekend matched up against the Rays and manager Kevin Cash.
"I've watched Kevin do his thing over there for a while, and he's good at what he does," Baldelli said before the game. "I think we all know that the Rays employ some tricks and some strategies that are a little unusual and a little different.
"Hopefully we can get ahead of at least some of those things. But I think they run an interesting brand of baseball. It's a fun brand of baseball the team plays. I do consider it different than that any other team in baseball does. Having been able to watch it happen, you can't always get ahead of everything but maybe it gives a little insight into what they do."
Cash, who played with and against Baldelli and had him on his coaching staff the last four years, said there wouldn't be that much back and forth between them.
"I don't think that will go on too much," he said before the game. "They've got a really talented team. There's not a lot of stuff that is going on. They hit the ball out of the ballpark and they don't strike out. Their pitchers have been outstanding for them There's a reason they have the best record in baseball, or close to it. They've just had everything clicking for them. We're going to have to do our job of trying to limit the long ball. There won't be a ton of decisions going back and forth between him and I."
Maybe a few grins at least?
"I'll laugh and smile," Cash said. "And I'm sure he will, too. We've stayed in contact. I called him today once I got to the ballpark. I'm sure there will be plenty of laughs."
