ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.—Amed Rosario and René Pinto hit home runs off Blake Snell in his return to Tropicana Field, and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the San Francisco Giants 9–4 on Sunday.
Rosario hit a two-run homer during a three-run first inning and Pinto belted a three-run drive in the fourth. The light-hitting Pinto, who had two hits and nine strikeouts in his previous 13 at-bats, added a solo homer in the sixth against reliever Kai-Wei Teng.
“My location is bad,” Snell said. “I need to get better. I just got to get in the zone and attack. No excuses. I’ll get better results, but until then nothing’s going to change until I start commanding.”
Snell (0–2) gave up seven hits, walked two, and struck out four over four innings in his second start with San Francisco after signing a two-year, $62 million contract toward the end of spring training. The two-time Cy Young Award winner threw 48 of 78 pitches for strikes.
“Obviously, the numbers would suggest not his best outing, but move on to the next one, and one of the starts he’s going to find it and find his footing,” Giants Manager Bob Melvin said.
The 31-year-old left-hander signed with Tampa Bay in 2011, made it to the major leagues in 2016, and won his first Cy Young with the Rays in 2018.
“Look, it was good for us,” Rays Manager Kevin Cash said. “A really talented pitcher, one of the game’s best. The command might not have been there, but the stuff certainly looked about the same. We’re fortunate to get him today.”
Michael Conforto connected on a solo homer for the Giants, who have lost five of eight. He has 13 RBIs in 15 games this season.
Tampa Bay hit four homers, including a seventh-inning drive by Isaac Paredes, and won for the sixth time in eight games after a 3–5 start. The Rays homered three times in their previous nine games.
After opener Shawn Armstrong allowed one run and struck out five in two innings, Tyler Alexander (1–0) gave up two runs over the following six innings. Alexander was reinstated from the bereavement list on Saturday.
Trainer’s Room
Rays: Highly regarded infield prospect Junior Caminero returned to the Triple-A Durham, N.C., lineup and went 2 for 6 with a three-run homer and five RBIs after missing two weeks with a strained left quadriceps.Up Next
Giants: Rookie left-hander Kyle Harrison (1–1) is scheduled to start Monday night at Miami.Rays: Right-hander Zach Eflin (1–2) will face Los Angeles Angels lefty Patrick Sandoval (1–2) on Monday night.
