ST. PETERSBURG — In the top of the ninth inning on the Fourth of July, the final Angels batter popped up in foul territory. Rays first baseman Logan Morrison squeezed the ball for only this team’s third win in 19 games. The rookie pitcher near the mound, a local, pounded his mitt.
Ryan Garton, closer.
You heard me.
“Hopefully, Ryan Garton has a smile ear to ear and doesn’t wipe it off all night,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said.
Garton, who attended Mitchell High in New Port Richey, recorded his first major-league save, before family, on the Fourth of July at Tropicana Field.