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Curt Casali homers twice as Rays beat Tigers (w/video)

 
Third baseman Evan Longoria throws out Ian Kinsler after diving to knock down his grounder in the fourth inning.
Third baseman Evan Longoria throws out Ian Kinsler after diving to knock down his grounder in the fourth inning.
Published July 28, 2015

ST. PETERSBURG — That wasn't so hard, was it?

The Rays rapped a few timely hits, including a pair of homers by rookie catcher Curt Casali. They pitched a strong game, Nathan Karns taking a shutout into the seventh and the bullpen taking it from there. They played some good defense, Evan Longoria making the best of a handful of highlight plays.

And, they won, beating the struggling Tigers 5-2 on Monday.

"A very Rays-like win," manager Kevin Cash said.

The victory, before 13,348, was rewarding in several ways.

Generally, because it was just their fourth in 10 games since the All-Star break and 10th in a 31-game stretch from their late-June high point of the season, improving their record to 50-51.

Specifically, because it was the first time in nearly three weeks they hung a number as big as a five on the scoreboard, their 13-game streak of scoring four or fewer having matched Seattle for the longest in the majors.

Casali was in the lineup ahead of Rene Rivera for a third straight start because Cash felt he could provide a boost to the struggling offense, and he delivered a pair of blasts against his former Tigers team.

"Anything I could do to help," Casali said. "We're struggling. Tonight was a really good night. We have to keep building on these type of nights because they haven't happened as frequently as we want it to."

Having made a slight adjustment to his stance that allows him to see the ball better, Casali has been on something of a roll, which now includes the first multi-homer game of his pro career, minors or majors.

The first, on Anibal Sanchez's first pitch of the third, put the Rays up 1-0. The second, with two outs in the eighth, provided some needed cushion, extending the lead from 3-2 to 5-2, and was somewhat noteworthy: just the second in Trop history, according to the Rays, to hit the B-ring catwalk (and first since Chicago's Frank Thomas in April of the 1998 inaugural season).

"I definitely want to be in the lineup," Casali said. "I know I have to earn that, so every time that he does put my name in the lineup, that's exactly what I'm going to try to do and try to earn my spot."

Kevin Kiermaier, who later left with an abrasion on his left eye, and Logan Forsythe delivered the other two runs as the Rays, taking an approach that drove up Sanchez's pitch count, rapped 12 hits overall, just their second time in double digits in 14 games.

"I think we've shown that we're capable of having good at-bats and getting enough runs," Cash said, "but we needed a little bit of an offensive outburst with the hits."

Karns, relying less on his curveball, allowed one hit and threw 66 pitches through six innings, impressive enough — though the bullpen was in action — to get the chance to start the seventh and try to work through the Detroit lineup a treacherous third time.

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Only that didn't go very well, as Karns allowed a home run on his first pitch to Yoenis Cespedes and a hard single on his fifth to Victor Martinez.

Kevin Jepsen finished the seventh, Jake McGee allowed a run to snap his scoreless streak at 21 games but got through a tough eighth and All-Star Brad Boxberger worked the ninth.