ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Amed Rosario and René Pinto homered off Blake Snell in his return to Tropicana Field, and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the San Francisco Giants 9-4 on Sunday.
Rosario hit a two-run homer during a three-run first and Pinto had a fourth-inning three-run drive. The light-hitting Pinto, who had two hits and nine strikeouts in his previous 13 at-bats, added a solo homer in the sixth against Kai-Wei Teng.
“My locations are bad,” Snell said. “I need to get better. I just got to get in the zone and attack. No excuses. I’ll get better results, but until then nothing’s going to change until I start commanding.”
Snell (0-2) gave up seven hits, walked two and struck out four over four innings in his second start with San Francisco after signing a $62 million, two-year contract that allows him to opt out after this season. The two-time Cy Young Award winner threw 48 of 78 pitches for strikes.
“Obviously the numbers would suggest not his best outing, but move on to the next one and one of the starts he’s going to find it and find his footing,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said.
The 31-year-old left-hander signed with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2011, made it to the major leagues in 2016 and won his first Cy Young with the Rays in 2018.
“Look, it was good for us,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “A really talented pitcher, one of the game's best. The command might not have been there, but the stuff certainly looked about the same. We're fortunate to get him today.”
Michael Conforto connected on a solo homer for the Giants, who have lost five of eight. He has 13 RBI in 15 games this season.
Tampa Bay hit four homers, including a seventh-inning drive by Isaac Paredes, and won for the sixth time in eight games after a 3-5 start. The Rays homered three times in their previous nine games.
After opener Shawn Armstrong allowed one run and struck five in two innings, Tyler Alexander (1-0) gave up two runs over the following six innings. Alexander was reinstated from the bereavement list on Saturday.
“The bullpen was a little beat up,” Cash said. “Mixing his pitches, he did that really well.”
As for what happened before the first pitch, Dave Wills, long-time radio broadcaster for the Tampa Bay Rays, was officially inducted into the team's Hall of Fame.
Wills, who had been the play-by-play announcer for 18 years before his death in 2023, was honored for his contributions to the team and the community.
He is the fourth member of the Rays Hall of Fame joining Don Zimmer, Wade Boggs and Carl Crawford. Fred McGriff will be inducted later this season as the fifth member.
His daughter Michelle spoke to the fans inside Tropicana Field about the honor saying, "My dad, Dave Wills, was and will always be a Hall of Fame husband, father, son, brother, family man and friend. Now, he will forever be a Hall of Fame Tampa Bay Ray."
The Rays Baseball Foundation also made a donation to two charities close to Wills' heart: Buddy Baseball and the Homeless Empowerment Program.
Zach Eflin will start for the Rays Monday night as the Angels come to town for a four-game series.