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Souza finds slugging success by choking up
- Updated: June 5, 2016
MINNEAPOLIS — Nothing seemed to be going the Rays’ way after three innings Saturday afternoon.
Steven Souza Jr. would change all of that with one swing of the bat.
The Rays had just surrendered two runs in the bottom of the third, an inning that saw shortstop Brad Miller boot a ball that allowed leadoff hitter Byron Buxton to reach and two stolen bases against Rays catcher Hank Conger. So the vibe wasn’t a positive one.
But Logan Morrison singled with one out in the top of the fourth and Steve Pearce followed suit before Corey Dickerson hit into a forceout to bring Souza to the plate with two outs.
The Rays’ slugger is always a power threat, but he entered the game without having homered since May 20 against the Tigers.
Souza got ahead 2-0 in the count against Ervin Santana, then watched strike one before fouling off strike two to even the count at 2-2.
On the fifth pitch, Santana …
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