CHICAGO — The Rays expected Chris Archer to pitch well for his part in the aces-high matchup with Chris Sale on Tuesday, and he did precisely that over seven solid innings.
But even the most optimistic Ray could not have expected the offensive barrage they unleashed on Sale and the White Sox in the 11-3 win.
By the end of the night, the Rays had hit a season-high four home runs, including Richie Shaffer's first big-league hit; had batted around for the first time in nearly three months; and rapped 13 hits overall, including three by catcher Rene Rivera.
And, they won three straight for the first time since the All-Star break, getting back to .500 at 54-54 and moving within two games of the second wild-card spot.
"We needed a win like that," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "That guy's good. He's really good. You don't expect that type of output. But there were a bunch of really good at-bats. I liked the approach, (hitting coaches Derek Shelton and Jamie Nelson) did a nice job with the guys getting them to be aggressive.''
The home runs came from an unlikely quartet: Logan Forsythe and rookie Mikie Mahtook off Sale, then Asdrubal Cabrera and Shaffer — who got the silent treatment in the dugout —in back-to-back at-bats against reliever Daniel Webb. It was the first time the Rays hit four homers since Sept. 7 vs. Baltimore.
Archer got his first W since June 23, his six-game winless streak more a product of the lack of support from his teammates than poor pitching. In four of those six starts, he allowed two or fewer earned runs.
He admitted he was "human" and looking forward to the matchup with Sale, and he was solid from the start, especially as the Rays handed him a 2-0 lead on Forsythe's two-out, two-run homer in the first. He relied mostly on a well-commanded fastball, working without his best slider but making effective use of it, allowing six hits while striking out seven and throwing 107 pitches.
"Archer was just tremendous, outstanding," Cash said. "It was nice to get him some run support and let him get into cruise mode."
Archer allowed one run on a two-out homer by rookie Tyler Saladino in the third and the other after the game was well in hand, on two singles and a fielder's choice grounder in the seventh.
"It was great, getting to a good pitcher like that, and even the guys they brought in out of the bullpen," Archer said.
The Rays struck first, Brandon Guyer drawing a five-pitch leadoff walk and with two outs Forsythe driving a 2-and-2 Sale pitch over the leftfield fence. "I was excited with (that),'' Cash said. After Archer gave up the homer to Saladino, it looked as if the game might turn into the duel that was expected between the two All-Stars. Then it turned out not to be.
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Explore all your optionsThe Rays expanded the lead to 3-1 when Mahtook, who drove in the winning run Monday, jumped on an 0-and-1 Sale pitch and homered to center to open the fifth. Then they broke it open by scoring five in the sixth, chasing Sale and sending 10 men to the plate, the first time they had batted around since May 17 and the third time all season.
The key play was Kevin Kiermaier blooping a one-out single into center, with Adam Eaton's throw bouncing through catcher Tyler Flowers' legs and Sale not backing up the play, allowing a second run.
That ended Sale's night as the Rays tagged on three more runs then pushed the lead to 10-1 in the seventh when Cabrera and Shaffer hit back-to-back homers to right. "That," Shaffer said, "was awesome."
Contact Marc Topkin at mtopkin@tampabay.com. Follow @TBTimes_Rays.