CINCINNATI — With three losses in the last four games and news that one of their top starters, Jeffrey Springs, likely is headed for Tommy John surgery, the Rays needed some good vibes on Tuesday to try to win at Great American Ball Park for the first time since 2014.
Prospect Taj Bradley, making his second big-league start, delivered as the Rays rolled to a 10-0 victory.
Bradley, 22, worked into the sixth inning in an even more impressive outing than his debut last week, allowing just three hits and a walk while striking out nine. He was clocked as high as 98 mph, on a third strike to Nick Senzel to end the second, and frequently was in the 96-mph range, throwing 55 of his 84 pitches for strikes.
Though manager Kevin Cash was non-committal when asked before the game, Bradley would seem to have pitched his way into the chance to stick around.
The Rays are currently without three of their planned five starters. Zach Eflin (back tightness) is on track to return Sunday, Tyler Glasnow (oblique strain) is expected to make his season debut in mid- to late-May and Springs, if he has the surgery, likely will be sidelined until May or June 2024.
Bradley was optioned to Triple-A after his debut, then recalled Tuesday without having to stay down for the required 15 days as he replaced a player, Springs, who went on the injured list.
Cash said before the game it would be helpful if the Rays hitters could take some of the pressure off Bradley by scoring early as they did in his April 12 debut against Boston, when they got three in the first inning and had a 6-1 lead by the fourth.
They took care of Bradley again Tuesday, scoring four in the second and extending the lead to 7-0 in the third.
Switch-hitter Taylor Walls led the way with the first multi-homer game of his career as the Rays improved their leagues-leading record to 15-3.
And he became the fourth Ray to homer from both sides of the plate, joining Geoff Blum (May 4, 2004), Willy Aybar (Aug. 3, 2009) and Ben Zobrist (April 13, 2014, also in Cincinnati).
Yandy Diaz, with a career-long 440-foot shot, and Randy Arozarena also went deep, as the Rays extended their majors-leading homer total to 40.
The Rays last won in Cincinnati on April 12, 2014. They didn’t come back until last July, when they were lost all three games in a brutal weekend, then dropped Monday’s opener to this series.
