Rene Rivera was supposed to be an offensive improvement for the Tampa Bay Rays after a breakout season with the San Diego Padres that saw him hit to a .252/.319/.432 line with 11 home runs. His results have instead been much worse than expected, but that may finally be beginning to change. In his last 63 plate appearances, Rivera has a .271/.286/.492 line with 4 doubles, 3 homers, and 11 RBI in 17 games. And in his last 33 PA’s, he has upped that to .323/.333/.581, including a critical hit on Saturday.
The Rays scored all of their runs against Dallas Keuchel and the Houston Astros in the second inning.