ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - A stretch of not only noticeable improvement at the plate, but clutch hitting by Jose Siri commenced May 29 at Tropicana Field against Oakland. His ninth-inning single off Michael Kelly scored Amed Rosario to give the Rays a 4-3 win and trigger a celebration.
Three other late-inning base hits to help the Rays pull out victories have since followed.
May 30: Less than 24 hours after his hit off Kelly, Siri strolled to the plate in the ninth inning and drilled a 407-foot solo homer off Oakland closer Mason Miller -- on a 100-mph, four-seam fastball – to tie the game at three. The Rays would win, 6-5, in 12 innings.
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June 2: Trailing at Baltimore 3-2 in the eighth, Siri’s two-run double off Dillon Tate scored Richie Palacios and Rosario to give the Rays a 4-3 lead, which is how it finished.
Sunday: After the Rays let a 6-2 lead go by the board, Siri came to the rescue in the ninth. After Randy Arozarena worked a walk off Raisel Iglesias, Siri drilled a 416-foot homer over the wall in left-center field. That gave the Rays an 8-6 lead, and which would be the final score.
“Staying back and telling myself that I can do it,” Siri told Bally Sun Sports after Sunday’s win. “Never losing focus and concentrate. If I struck out my first at-bat, that’s fine. Just stay focused.”
He did just that against Iglesias, driving a changeup and on a 1-2 count.
“Proud of the way he hung in there against a good closer,” said manager Kevin Cash.
In the larger picture, Siri is 16-for-58 (.276) with four homers and 11 RBI beginning with the May 29 game versus Oakland. While there is nothing necessarily eyebrow-raising about those numbers, he has come through in a big way while bumping his average from .168 to .204.
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Siri has often been spectacular in the field, something that was underscored by his home-run robbery of Zack Gelof in the ninth inning ahead of his game-winning single against the A’s on May 29.
To what degree he can continue to bang out at least an occasional clutch hit remains to be seen. At least of late, Rays fans have been seeing more than a glimpse of what the 28-year-old Siri is capable of doing in the field and at the plate.
Off to Minny: Following a day off Monday, the Rays (34-38) resume their three-city, nine-game road trip against the Twins on Tuesday evening when Aaron Civale (2-5, 5.20) goes up against Pablo Lopez (6-6, 5.33) in the first of three. Then it is off to Pittsburgh for a three-game weekend series against the Pirates. It will be the Rays’ first visit to PNC Park since 2017.
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