Yandy

Díaz

Díaz already has four three-hit games this month. He leads the AL and is fourth in the majors with a .331 average. He’s fourth in both the AL and the majors with a .940 OPS.

Díaz greeted Red Sox lefty Connelly Early with a leadoff homer before tacking on a key insurance run with an eighth-inning sacrifice fly. It was his 12th long ball of the season. The 34-year-old on-base machine has put together one of the strongest stretches of his career recently, hitting .319 (37-for-116) with eight homers and 24 RBI over his last 30 games. He’s hitting .429 (12-for-28) over his last seven games alone.

It took the Rays eight innings to finally scratch across a run in what was mostly a bullpen game for the Marlins. Díaz knocked the lid off the basket with an RBI double and chipped in another run-scoring single in the ninth as their rally fell just short. Nevertheless, his .326 batting average leads the American League and his 11 home runs already are on pace for a career-high.

Díaz led off the bottom of the first inning with a solo homer off Reid Detmers, continuing his power binge after Friday’s two-homer contest. He later singled and scored in the fifth. The 34-year-old slugger is up to 11 homers and 37 RBI while hitting .317/.396/.538 across 227 plate appearances.

Díaz clobbered a leadoff homer to right field off Angels starter Walbert Ureña before putting the exclamation point on the multi-homer outburst by walloping a go-ahead two-run blast to left-center field off Ryan Zeferjahn in the seventh. The 34-year-old on-base machine continues to serve as Tampa Bay’s primary offensive catalyst this season as he’s up to 10 round-trippers while also hitting .313/.392/.523 with 36 RBI across 51 games.

The Rays and fantasy managers caught a break when Díaz managed to avoid serious injury after taking a pitch off his fingers on both hands earlier this week. The 34-year-old on-base machine, who has been one of the top hitters in the American League this season, wound up missing only one game after X-rays and a CT scan didn’t reveal any fractures.

Díaz left Tuesday’s game after he was hit on the fingers of both hands by a pitch from Yennier Cano. X-rays came back negative for any fractures though and he was given Wednesday off as a day to recuperate. He’s right back in there as the Rays’ designated hitter and batting cleanup against Yankees’ right-hander Gerrit Cole on Friday evening in the Bronx.

“I think it got the nail a little bit, but we’ll try to give him the day,” said Rays manager Kevin Cash. The Rays have an off day on Thursday, so giving Díaz the day off on Wednesday will give him two rest days before returning to the lineup on Friday.

Not good. Díaz was struck on both hands by a pitch from Orioles reliever Yennier Cano with two outs in the eighth inning. He departed the contest after going 2-for-3 with a solo homer and two RBI in the low-scoring affair. The 34-year-old on-base machine kicked off the scoring by ripping an RBI double into the left-center field gap against Orioles starter Kyle Bradish in the opening frame before launching a majestic 439-foot tiebreaking solo shot to center field in the sixth inning. It was his eighth round-tripper of the season. He’ll presumably head for X-rays to determine whether he suffered any fractures. There should be an update on his status prior to Wednesday’s series finale.

Díaz capped off an impressive four-hit masterpiece with a two-run double against Orioles reliever Dietrich Enns that traveled 400 feet and one-hopped off the left-center field wall. It was his first four-hit effort since March 29 when he racked up five hits. The 34-year-old on-base machine is hitting .310/.387/.480 with seven homers, 31 RBI and one steal through 44 games.