Rays quickly spoil Giants' home opener

SAN FRANCISCO -- Behind a four-run first inning and a sharp outing by starter Tyler Glasnow, the Rays began their three-city, nine-game road trip with a 5-2 win over the Giants on Friday.

The Rays offense was blanked by the Rockies on Wednesday, but it didn’t take long for the bats to wake up in the Giants' home opener. With two outs in the first inning, Ji-Man Choi got the rally started with a double down the left-field line. Brandon Lowe followed with an RBI double and then the Rays added some power into the mix.

Yandy Díaz, who said he wasn’t 100 percent with a left ankle injury he suffered Tuesday, connected on a two-run home run off Giants pitcher Dereck Rodriguez to give Tampa Bay a 3-0 lead. The distance on the home run was 373 feet despite Diaz breaking his bat.

“I don’t know if the ball got in on him or towards the end of the bat,” said Rays manager Kevin Cash. “But to hit it out of the ballpark right there was pretty impressive.”

Diaz’s home run was followed by a Kevin Kiermaier home run that traveled 437 feet to right-center field. It was the first time the Rays hit back-to-back home runs since June 1, 2018, at Seattle. Austin Meadows gave the Rays some added insurance with an RBI double in the seventh inning.

The early lead helped the Rays keep the big crowd at Oracle Park without having much to cheer for, and it also allowed Glasnow to settle in.

“Really helpful given the atmosphere that was going on,” Cash said on the early offense. “If the Giants were able to get something going early, it would’ve been challenging because you know the fans were going to play a part into it.”

Glasnow struck out six and allowed just three hits over six scoreless innings Friday. The Rays right-hander has allowed one run in 11 innings this season. Of Glasnow’s 82 pitches Friday, 59 were for strikes.

“They had a big arm on the mound, and he was throwing the ball well,” said Giants catcher Buster Posey. “He did a nice job of getting his breaking ball over for strikes. I think when he’s doing that and throwing that upper-90s fastball at the top of the zone, you’ve got your work cut out for you.”

San Francisco put together a bases-loaded rally in the eighth inning, but Rays reliever Diego Castillo got Kevin Pillar to ground into a 6-4-3 double play to preserve the 5-2 lead. In the ninth inning, the Rays called on Jose Alvarado to close out the game.

Alvarado allowed an infield hit and a walk to start the inning, which helped bring the tying run to the plate. The left-hander, however, got Steven Duggar to ground into a fielder’s choice and struck out Brandon Belt, setting up a fitting matchup against Rays icon Evan Longoria.

Longoria, who produced countless big moments in his 10 years with Tampa Bay, didn’t produce any magic against his former club, flying out to right field to end the game.

“Let’s not have a fitting story,” Cash said with a smile when asked what his thoughts were when Longoria came up to the plate. “I was going down the line like he’s probably going to be lurking around. If he doesn’t come up, he’s going to be on deck. He took a good swing, though. A nice fly ball to right.”

By limiting the Giants to two runs Friday, Rays pitching has limited the opposing team to two runs or fewer in seven straight games.

“Any time you get an early lead, it’s great,” said Kiermaier. “But with what our pitchers have been doing, it’s one of those things right now where we once again felt like we had enough right then and there. I know it’s such a small sample size, but this could be a taste of what our pitchers can do throughout a full season.”