Wander’s informal excellence reveals on either side of the ball

That was very true throughout the Rays’ 8-1 win over the Pirates on Wednesday at Tropicana Field. Tampa Bay’s star shortstop completed the evening 2-for-5 with two RBIs, three runs scored, the longest house run of his profession and a pair defensive highlights — together with one play so informal, it regarded like one thing he would possibly apply hours earlier than first pitch.

With a runner on third base and two outs within the seventh inning, Pirates outfielder Bryan Reynolds smacked a 103.2 mph one-hopper again up the center. Franco was completely positioned to subject the ball, then he had sufficient time to switch the ball to his proper hand and flip it to himself earlier than firing a throw to first baseman Yandy Díaz that beat Reynolds by two steps.

“Did he just do that?” coloration analyst Brian Anderson stated throughout the Rays’ telecast. “He tossed the ball up to himself.”

Indeed, he did. Franco tossed the ball, with somewhat backspin on it, earlier than finishing the play. In the printed sales space, Rays play-by-play commentator Dewayne Staats puzzled aloud if Franco ought to be credited with two assists on the groundout.

“I mess around in practice. Sometimes I tend to do that at practice,” Franco stated by means of interpreter Manny Navarro. “Through instincts, I think it just happened.”

Franco saved his private spotlight reel rolling instantly after that play, as he simply so occurred to steer off the underside of the seventh towards Pittsburgh right-hander Cody Bolton. Franco took two changeups for strikes then unloaded on a 95 mph fastball, sending it a Statcast-projected 425 toes out to middle subject to place the Rays up, 7-1.

It was Franco’s sixth house run of the season and the longest of his younger profession, in line with Statcast, surpassing a 418-foot shot he hit towards the Braves on July 18, 2021. It was additionally Franco’s 18th extra-base hit of the season, second-most within the Majors behind solely Matt Chapman’s 20.

“He’s good. There’s not a lot he can’t do,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “The way he swings the bat, the way he runs — he’s a really good player, and they did a really nice job signing him up to make sure he’s a Ray for a long time.”