Field Level Media
Jun 25, 2018
Tampa Bay left-hander Blake Snell allowed one hit over seven shutout innings as the Rays rolled to an 11-0 victory over the visiting Washington Nationals on Monday night.
Kevin Kiermaier belted his second career grand slam and Wilson Ramos smacked two homers as Tampa Bay drubbed the Nationals in the opener of a two-game set. The Rays have won four straight games and five of their past six.
Snell (10-4) took a no-hitter into the seventh before Washington's Anthony Rendon broke it up with a leadoff double. Snell struck out 10 and walked four.
Snell has struck out 10 or more batters three times this season. The 25-year-old has won six of his last seven decisions.
Rookie Jake Bauers went 4-for-5 with two runs scored and capped Tampa Bay's 12-hit assault with an RBI single in the eighth.
Washington, which had just two hits, has dropped eight of its last 11 contests.
Nationals left-hander Gio Gonzalez (6-5) was ripped for six runs and retired just three batters. He allowed three hits, walked five and struck out two while losing his third straight start and seeing his winless stretch reach five outings.
Nationals star Bryce Harper went 0-for-2 with a walk, and his homerless drought sits at 14 games.
Snell walked the first two batters he faced -- Trea Turner and Harper -- and then dominated the Washington lineup by retiring the next 18.
Snell fell behind 3-1 to Rendon to start the seventh, and the Washington third baseman took advantage by hammering a changeup off the fence in left-center field. Rendon missed a homer by about two feet.
Snell issued two walks later in the inning before working out of the frame and departing after 103 pitches.
Right-hander Austin Pruitt worked two scoreless innings. He gave up a single to Juan Soto with two outs in the ninth.
The Rays loaded the bases with none out in the second before Gonzalez unleashed a wild pitch to allow the first run to score. Back-to-back walks to Adeiny Hechavarria and Willy Adames pushed another run across before Kiermaier parked a 3-2 fastball just barely over the fence in center to make it 6-0.
Tampa Bay scored another run off a wild pitch in the third, as Bauers headed home on one tossed by right-hander Justin Miller.
Ramos made it 8-0 with one out in the fourth when he sent a first-pitch fastball from Miller over the fence in left.
Ramos followed Daniel Robertson's one-out single in the sixth with his second blast. This time, he belted a first-pitch changeup from left-hander Tim Collins over the fence in left-center to make it 10-0.
--Field Level Media