Richie

Palacios

Palacios gave Tampa Bay a commanding four-run advantage by smacking a two-run single to center field off Yankees reliever Brent Headrick with two outs in the fifth inning. The Rays used a contact-oriented approach to neutralize New York’s ace Cam Schlittler, holding him to just a pair of strikeouts, before ultimately chasing him from the contest in the fifth. With the victory, Tampa Bay takes a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series and has a chance to punch their ticket to the ALCS during Game 3 at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday.

Rays manager Kevin Cash isn’t making any changes following a series-opening victory where Jonathan Aranda’s solo homer was enough for a nearly-flawless Drew Rasmussen, who took a no-hit bid into the eighth inning. Caminero, who is likely to finish near the top of AL MVP Award balloting, finished a phenomenal regular season with 42 home runs, reaching the lofty 40-homer plateau for the second straight season. Here’s the full lineup: Yandy Díaz (DH), Jonathan Aranda (1B), Junior Caminero (3B), Liam Hicks (C), Chandler Simpson (LF), Victor Mesa Jr. (RF), Jonny DeLuca (CF), Richie Palacios (2B) and Taylor Walls (SS).

Palacios drove in a run with a double in the second, walked with the bases loaded in the fifth, and singled in a pair an inning later. That gives Palacios 57 RBI on the season, and his slash now sits at .238/.333/.378 with one game left.

Palacios’ sixth home run of the season got out in a hurry as he yanked it down the right field line. It was his first long ball since August 3rd as he tries to find some type of consistency at the plate as he remains the Rays’ strong-side platoon starter at second base.

That’s what five straight hitless games will get you. The Rays have Jorge Mateo playing second base tonight. Palacios will probably get another shot on Saturday and then sit against left-hander Robbie Ray on Sunday.

Relying on seven relievers, the Rays were able to limit Seattle to two runs even after the late scratch of Griffin Jax with an elbow issue. Palacios walked and stole a base in the third, doubled in the fifth and then had the game’s biggest hit, a two-run single, in the sixth. He’s batting .231/.333/.349 in 277 plate appearances as the Rays’ primary second baseman against righties. It wasn’t supposed to be this way; the team sent him down in spring training, only to recall him prior to Opening Day because Gavin Lux was hurt.

Rays manager Kevin Cash divulged Friday that Simpson has been playing through a thumb contusion that he suffered earlier this week. The 25-year-old speedster figures to avoid a trip to the injured list, but that’s hardly a lock. He’ll get some extra time off to rest and hopefully put the issue to bed. Richie Palacios is in left field with Victor Mesa Jr. in the opposite corner on Saturday afternoon. Fantasy managers should consider him day-to-day heading into Sunday’s series finale in Miami.

Palacios gave the Rays their first two runs of the night when he smacked a two-RBI triple to right-center field in the first inning to give the Rays the early lead. Palacios has tripled twice in his last six games, but is just 3-for-15 in the early parts of June. He’s cooled off quite a bit after a strong May, so we’ll see if he can bounce back in some capacity in the coming days.

With runners on the corners, Palacios came up clutch with a two-RBI single in the eighth inning to give the Rays a 3-1 lead. It was the first lead of the night for the Rays, which proved to be enough to secure the win and extend their lead over the Yankees in the AL East. Palacios has now hit in four-straight games while driving in a run in each of those games as well. He continues to play welll with Ben Williamson (back) sidelined and is slashing .342/.432/.395 on the month.

It was Yandy Dìaz, who finished 2-for-3 with a solo homer and two RBI, that did the heavy lifting for Tampa Bay before leaving the contest after being hit by a pitch in the eighth inning. Palacios added a key insurance run with two outs in the eighth when he drilled an RBI double to right field off lights-out reliever Rico Garcia that somehow managed to drop out of Colton Cowser’s glove as he collided with the wall. The versatile 29-year-old should continue seeing time at second base with Ben Williamson (back) out of the lineup.