ST. PETERSBURG — Rays manager Kevin Cash, whose offense has been sputtering for most of the past month, took Wednesday to shuffle his batting order.
He gave his hottest hitter, eight-year veteran Avisail Garcia, his second career start in the leadoff spot against the Dodgers, just one of several out-of-the-box lineup adjustments.
The batting order was unconventional, to say the least, but of course, if there’s any team that defies convention, it’s the Rays.
And while Garcia’s place is typically in the middle of the order, he was in the perfect spot to deliver one of the biggest hits of the game, belting a three-run homer that paced a seven-run seventh inning en route to an 8-1 victory at Tropicana Field in front of an announced crowd of 12,826.