Tampa Bay Rays Off to 12-0 Start to Season After Win Over Red Sox

Ana Mosley watched and cheered from the stands as Bradley threw five strong innings for the win, allowing three runs, five hits and a walk and striking out eight. Bradley, a right-hander, was notified on Tuesday of the call-up from the Class AAA Durham Bulls and had one hour to pack and get to the airport for a flight to Tampa amid a rush of activity and phone calls.

He pitched through the first inning like a 10-year veteran, but when he returned to the dugout, the long-awaited moment briefly overwhelmed him.

“After the first inning I got pretty emotional,” he said in an interview with WDAE, the Rays’ radio broadcaster. “I had to cover my face with a towel. I had some tears going. After getting out of that first inning, I was excited, man. It’s a dream come true, a childhood dream come true.”

Randy Arozarena, the Rays’ slugging left fielder, hit his third home run of the season on Wednesday, and shortstop Wander Franco was 3 for 5 with two runs batted in and two runs scored, increasing his batting average to .340. Franco has four home runs.

“Wander’s on fire right now,” Cash said.

The entire Rays team is hot, but a season-opening winning streak does not guarantee success. The 1982 Braves lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, three games to none, in the N.L. Championship Series, and the 1987 Brewers won 91 games, but finished third in the A.L. East and missed the postseason.

The only certainty is that the Rays will eventually lose. Not even the 1884 St. Louis Maroons were invincible.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/13/sports/baseball/tampa-bay-rays-win-streak.html