Yandy serenaded on b'day, makes sweet music with bat

ST. PETERSBURG -- About 2 1/2 hours before Zach Eflin’s first pitch on Tuesday, Yandy Díaz did his best to play it cool. He fielded ground balls and picked his teammates’ throws during infield practice, only occasionally flashing a quick grin at first base.

This was no ordinary afternoon workout at Tropicana Field, though. Díaz was surprised to find himself being serenaded and celebrated from foul territory by a band that lefty reliever Jake Diekman hired for Díaz’s 32nd birthday. Try as he might, Díaz couldn’t ignore the sound of its songs or the sight of the crowd gathered to watch.

“I haven't had a birthday as special as this one before,” Díaz said through interpreter Manny Navarro, “and I thank my teammates for doing something like this for me.”

Díaz returned the favor in the Rays’ 4-2 win over the Cardinals on Tuesday night. The All-Star first baseman stroked a career-high-tying four hits and slapped a go-ahead single in the eighth inning, surging to the top of the American League batting leaderboard and supporting Eflin’s brilliant seven-inning start.

So yes, there might be more pregame plena music in store for Díaz and the Rays.

“It looked like the band brought me good luck today,” Díaz said through Navarro, “so I think we're going to have to bring them all the time.”

“We're definitely bringing the band again tomorrow,” added catcher Christian Bethancourt, “so he can get four more hits.”

Díaz has found plenty of hits without any musical accompaniment, of course. The muscular leadoff man is batting .322, best in the AL and fourth in the Majors, and his .917 OPS ranks behind only the Angels’ Shohei Ohtani among qualified AL hitters. Even as seemingly the Rays’ entire lineup scuffled through July, Díaz found a way to hit .324 with a .395 on-base percentage.

“You can just bank [on] a bunch of good at-bats,” manager Kevin Cash said. “It felt like even when we were a little quiet offensively, he was still doing his thing.”

So Díaz was the ideal person to have at the plate with one out in the eighth and the game tied, 1-1.

Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas had kept Tampa Bay’s bats quiet until Isaac Paredes pulled his team-leading 22nd home run to left field in the seventh inning, tying the game.

Eflin kept the Rays in the game, however, by allowing just one run on four hits while striking out eight over seven innings -- the kind of performance they might need more of after receiving word Tuesday that ace Shane McClanahan is likely done for the year.

“It was a well-pitched game on both ends,” Cash said. “Both pitchers, man, that was really a lot of pitchability right there -- just changing speeds, eye looks, everything.”

Then Josh Lowe jolted the Rays’ dugout and chased Mikolas with a triple to left-center field to lead off the eighth. Díaz called Lowe’s fourth career triple “the play of the game,” but it was up to him to make sure it didn’t go to waste.

After pinch-hitter Harold Ramírez grounded out, Díaz took a ball from reliever Andre Pallante and slapped the next pitch up the middle through St. Louis’ drawn-in infield. The Rays piled on from there, pulling ahead by three runs thanks to three straight singles by Wander Franco, Brandon Lowe and Randy Arozarena.

“Good birthday for him,” Cash said of Díaz. “He's led us in so many ways offensively, and he just gives such a big at-bat, none bigger than the one with a guy at third base, one out. … He seems like probably the right guy to have up there.”

Díaz became the third player in franchise history to record at least four hits on his birthday, joining Carl Crawford (Aug. 5, 2007) and Randy Winn (June 9, 2002). According to the Elias Sports Bureau, he was the fifth Rays hitter to record a game-winning RBI on his birthday and the first since Ji-Man Choi did so on May 19, 2021.

“It's unbelievable, honestly. He's such a terrifying figure in the batter's box, and he's our leadoff guy,” Eflin said. “That's not the guy you want to face leading off the game, and he's been so consistent, so steady, and he's been the same person every single day. I think that's what makes him special, is how good of a person he is.

“That's why Diek got a band for him. He's such a good teammate that we kind of had to do it.”

From the band singing to Díaz swinging, it was a day he won’t soon forget.

“I think this has been the best birthday of my life,” he said.