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Marc Topkin's takeaways from Sunday's Rays-Mariners game

 
Published June 5, 2017

OF Steven Souza Jr. wants so badly to succeed at all times, especially when playing in his Seattle hometown. But he obviously puts too much pressure on himself, this weekend's 0-for-10 making him 2-for-38 (.053) with 17 strikeouts in three visits.

The Rays insisted they were never really sweating being no-hit, but some omens were there early as Steven Souza Jr. hit a drive to left that just went foul and Evan Longoria was robbed of a double on a diving catch in left by Boog Powell, a former Rays minor-leaguer.

Shortstop Tim Beckham's offense has been impressive, but what has surprised some Rays people is the relative consistency of his defense, including a sensational play Sunday when he dived to his left and threw from his knees to nail Robinson Cano.