ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. _ If he keeps this up, maybe he'll get a few Cy Young votes. Maybe one day he'll get a call from Cooperstown. Maybe they'll hold a number retirement ceremony at the ballpark in Ybor.
Ryne Stanek, the reliever-turned-starter whom the Rays still sometimes use as a reliever when he's not a starter, added another scoreless start to resume _ his ninth straight _ in a 5-2 win over the Tigers on Tuesday night at Tropicana Field. In two innings, he threw 23 pitches, 16 for strikes, most of which were of the 98-mph-catch-it-if-you-can variety. He allowed one hit and struck out two.
Over Stanek's streak, which began June 7, he has struck out 18 and allowed 12 baserunners in 132/3 innings pitched.
OK, so it's not Orel Hershiser's 59-inning streak in 1988 or Don Drysdale's 58-inning streak in 1968 or Zack Greinke's 452/3-inning streak in 2015, but if that's how you want to see this streak, don't go to any parties because you'll kill the mood for everyone else.
Tigers pitcher Matthew Boyd retired the first seven Rays he faced before Carlos Gomez drew a walk in the bottom of the third inning. Gomez then stole second and scored on a Willy Adames single. Shortstop Jose Iglesias tried to backhand the ball, but it dribbled away and Gomez didn't break stride going around third. Chalk that run up to pure hustle.
Kevin Kiermaier knocked in Adames, and Wilson Ramos added an opposite-field home run later in the inning to give the Rays a 5-0 lead for the second straight night. Unlike Thursday night, though, the Rays bullpen didn't let the Tigers back in the game.
