Rays rough up David Price in 10-2 win over Tigers

Tampa Bay Rays’ Nathan Karns pitches to the Detroit Tigers during the first inning of a baseball game Monday, July 27, 2015, in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Casali hit both home runs and his single against fellow Vanderbilt alum David Price, a former teammate when he first reached the Major Leagues with the Rays last summer.

Casali homered in his next at-bat, sending a drive over the right-center field wall to whip Rays fans into a frenzy.

Tomorrow night, The Tigers open a 4-game series at Baltimore.

“It’s possible”, Ausmus said when asked if his team is pressing. “We’re struggling. We’ve just got to keep building on this type of night because they haven’t happened as frequently as we want”.

In the sixth, Casali added a solo shot, his fifth round-tripper in four games, to give the Rays a 5-1 lead.

The Rays jumped out to a 4-1 lead on Price, who was making his second appearance at Tropicana Field since he was dealt to Detroit at last year’s trade deadline. Manager Kevin Cash suggested that his bat has spread throughout the lineup. “What (Casali) provided today was a huge lift”.

“I try to hit the ball hard. It was good to see from top to bottom”. It was Detroit’s seventh loss in 10 games, and Sanchez’s first defeat since June 3.

In the fourth, Martinez and Castellanos singled – the former advancing first-to-third on the groundball through the hole to leftfield and the latter taking second base – but McCann and Avila struck out swinging. “It’s one thing to hit a big league home run, but to get on a run like this-it’s just incredible to watch”.

Odorizzi allowed six hits in six innings. The right-hander had won seven straight decisions.

Tigers: 1B Miguel Cabrera (strained left calf) is running at 70 percent on a treadmill and is expected back in mid-to-late August. LHP Kyle Lobstein (shoulder) threw batting practice and is close to starting a rehab assignment. LHP Drew Smyly (torn left labrum) is scheduled for a second rehab start Friday night and said he believes he is on “the back side” of his recovery. “I told him not to hit any more homers off of me before the game and he hit two”. Rays’ Steven Souza Jr. also scored. He couldn’t be blamed for not winning his two games since the break, getting no run support as he yielded three runs in 13 innings while striking out 15.

A night after stopping a streak of 13 consecutive games scoring four or fewer runs, Tampa Bay did most of its damage against Price in two innings.