2024 Sunburst Awards: Kansas City Royals games 52-54
Rays fall to 26-28 after three game series at Tropicana Field
“Sunburst Awards” is a series-by-series evaluation of player performance, where four different awards are given out after each series: Offensive player of the series, defensive player of the series, pitcher of the series, and highlight play of the series. This edition will be covering the 17th series of the season, where the Tampa Bay Rays took on the Kansas City Royals from May 24 through May 26, a three game series at Tropicana Field.
The Rays enter another home series in desperate need to end a four game losing streak.
Game 1: Rays - 1 Royals - 8 (recap)
Game 2: Rays - 4 Royals - 7 (recap)
Game 3: Rays - 4 Royals - 1 (recap)
Offensive Sunburst Award: Do we have to pick?
This was a brutal offensive series for the Rays, with nobody notching more than three hits over the course of the series.
Jonathan Aranda had a nice home run in game two and Brandon Lowe had a three-RBI triple and two runs scored in the series, but nobody had a performance worthy of a Sunburst, so the award has been voided this weekend.
Pitching Sunburst Award: Taj Bradley
Bradley puts up another impressive performance, this time against the Royals going five innings of scoreless baseball giving up just one hit and three walks striking out six in a winning effort.
The young right-hander has quickly become a fan favorite, showing sky-high potential in his limited appearances this season. This marks Bradley’s third pitching sunburst of the year.
The 23-year-old lowers his ERA to 3.13 in his four starts this year, racking up 29 strikeouts so far in 23 innings pitched.
Defensive Sunburst Award: Jose Siri
Siri wins this edition’s Defensive Sunburst with this heads up play in the outfield to save the day in game two of the series.
With a runner in scoring position, a routine pop up took a sour turn when Ramirez lost the ball in the Tropicana field roof. Fortunately, the experienced outfielder had his teammates back and made the grab to save the game.
Highlight Sunburst Award: Brandon Lowe
Lowe earns his second Highlight Sunburst of the year with an electric three-RBI triple in game three to snatch the Rays out of getting swept on Sunday. The clutch pinch-hit performance was the first time the Rays scored in the game, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
The moustache’d Lowe earned his 10th career triple and played a big role in the Rays avoiding looking at a seven game losing streak.
Conclusion
The Rays follow up a disappointing series against the Red Sox with another frustrating performance against the Royals, dropping two out of three and now having dropped six of their last seven.
The team will have an off day tomorrow before facing the Oakland Athletics for a three game series to finish off their homestand. First pitch on Tuesday is set for 6:50.