DETROIT — The Rays are going to miss Wander Franco in many ways while he recovers from a right-hamstring strain over the next two to three weeks.
But in their first game without him Saturday, they handled it just fine, as Joey Wendle and Kevin Kiermaier led them to a 7-2 victory over the Tigers.
Wendle had a triple and a homer, and Kiermaier a triple and a double as the Rays took a 5-0 lead in the fourth and coasted to victory, ending a two-game skid.
The only downside to the night was starter Chris Archer leaving what was a sharp outing after four innings due to a recurrence of the left-hip discomfort that has plagued him previously.
The Rays improved their American League-best record to 89-53 and, at the least, maintained a nine-game East Division lead over the Red Sox, who played later Saturday.
The Rays also reduced to 11 their “magic numbers” to clinch both a playoff berth and the division title.
They took a 3-0 lead in the third. Wendle led off with a triple and beat the throw home on Mike Zunino’s grounder to third. Zunino then raced home when Kiermaier followed with a triple. And Kiermaier scored on a line out to left by Brandon Lowe.
The Rays added two in the fourth. Wendle, who has been on a tear, led off with a homer, his 10th of the season. Kiermaier laced a ball to center and raced to second for a one-out double, then went to third on a ground out and scored on Lowe’s single. The Rays added runs on a sac fly by Randy Arozarena in the fifth, and another in the ninth by Austin Meadows, giving him 98 RBIs for the season.
Archer was slated to go into the bullpen this weekend and work behind either Michael Wacha on Friday or Luis Patino on Saturday. But when top starter Shane McClanahan went on the injured list Friday due to back stiffness, the Rays changed plans and put Archer back in the rotation, starting him on Saturday.
Coming off a five-inning, 78-pitch outing last Saturday, his heftiest workload since August 2019, Archer said he was ready for the opportunity.
He got off to a good start, not allowing a hit through the first three innings, and gave up only two in the fourth, leading to one run, having thrown 55 pitches, but unable to continue.
Dietrich Enns worked four scoreless innings, allowing no hits and no walks, with one Tiger reaching on an error by Walls. Shawn Armstrong finished.
