Rays ride strong pitching performance into opener vs. D-backs

How close did Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash come to sending Ian Seymour back out for the ninth inning to try to finish a combined no-hitter on Thursday?

According to Cash, not close at all.

Casey Legumina and Seymour combined to no-hit the Kansas City Royals for eight innings before Cash sent Craig Kimbrel out for the ninth. Kimbrel gave up a two-run homer to Carter Jensen with one out to break up the no-hit bid.

"If his pitch count had been a little lower, I would have given it consideration," Cash said of Seymour after the Rays' 13-2 win. "We are still building him back up. A month ago, he was a one- or two-inning reliever who threw 30 pitches an outing. We have to be smart, so it was an easy decision when he got to 90."

Tampa Bay will look for another strong pitching performance on Friday night when it hosts the Arizona Diamondbacks in the opener of a three-game series in St. Petersburg, Fla.

The Rays will send right-hander Nick Martinez (6-2, 2.73 ERA) to the mound Friday. Martinez is coming off a solid outing on Sunday against the Washington Nationals. He allowed three runs on four hits while striking out five over six innings in his team's 4-3 victory.

Martinez has gone 2-1 in his last five starts. The Rays have won four of his last six starts and 11 of his 15 for the season.

Martinez is 2-0 with a 3.73 ERA in 14 career appearances (two starts) against Arizona.

The Diamondbacks were rained out in St. Louis on Thursday after taking two of three games from the Cardinals. That means right-hander Zac Gallen (3-6, 6.10 ERA) will start on Friday against the Rays.

In his most recent start, Gallen was roughed up in a 16-8 home loss against the Minnesota Twins on Saturday. He was tagged for nine runs on 12 hits with two walks and two strikeouts over four innings.

Gallen heard it from the fans in Phoenix following the performance.

"It is what it is. They paid to come here, and they're unsatisfied. I think it's ironic when they boo players, because the player is probably the most unsatisfied with themselves," Gallen said, per AZ Sports.

Gallen, who never has faced the Rays, would be wise to keep a keen eye on Junior Caminero. The slugger recorded his first career three-homer performance on Thursday afternoon and drove in six runs.

The Diamondbacks were struggling on offense before breaking through for a 9-4 win in St. Louis Wednesday. The big hit of the night was LuJames Groover's first career home run as part of a six-run fourth inning.

"Every day is an opportunity to go out there, just really try and have good ABs," Groover told the team's website. "Bring guys in when the opportunity presents itself, turn the lineup over, things like that. I walked a couple times today. Just being able to get the lineup back over to Ketel (Marte), especially, a lot of good things can happen there."

--Field Level Media