Rays outmuscle Cuban National Team in historic exhibition game

In the first MLB exhibition game played in Cuba in 17 years, the Tampa Bay Rays topped the Cuban National Team by the count of 4-1. The Rays got a big blast from James Loney and a strong outing from Matt Moore to outmuscle a Cuban team that’s been drained of its top talent by players defecting to the U.S.

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Still, the point of this wasn’t so much the result, it was the scene — an MLB team playing in Havana, in front of a crowd eager for baseball, with two presidents watching from the front row. Score aside, it was a memorable day for baseball in two countries.

• James Loney will be remembered as the king of this game. He was responsible for three Rays run — driving in the first on a grounder in the second inning, then launching a two-run homer in the fourth. It was the biggest offensive outburst of the day until …

• Rudy Reyes got the Cuban team on the board with a ninth-inning homer off Rays reliever Alex Colome. The Cuban crowd, even though it was a last gasp, was delighted by the moment.

• Matt Moore had a fine day on the mound for the Rays. He pitched six solid innings, striking out three and scattering six hits. After a down year in 2015 coming off injury, the Rays are expecting a return to form for Moore and this seemed to solidify the possibility.

• On the Cuban side, three players had two hits apiece against big-league pitching Yosvani Alarcon, Yordan Manduley and Jose Adolis Garcia.

Here’s that Loney homer that made the score 3-0:Your browser does not support iframes.

Can MLB do this again? There’s no reason to think MLB couldn’t make a game between the Cuban National Team a more regular occurrence. The atmosphere was excellent, the fans were into the game and it was a surreal experience for anyone watching at home. Based on the success of the contest, it wouldn’t be surprising to see MLB explore an opportunity to do it again. Sending one major-league team to Cuba for an annual spring training game seems feasible now.

Chris Archer’s emergence: Chris Archer didn’t even pitch during the contest, but he once again emerged as a huge star. Archer engaged both the president and the First Lady in a lengthy conversation prior to the game, and gave an eloquent interview with ESPN during the contest. In that interview, Archer hit on a number of topics, very few of which involved baseball. Over the past few months, Archer has established himself as a tremendous, young ambassador for the game. Everything he did Tuesday continued to fuel that narrative. MLB would be wise to lean on him more often.

Matt Moore’s performance: Considering all the fanfare during the game, it’s easy to overlook Matt Moore’s performance. The 26-year-old lefty turned in six shutout innings against the Cuban National Team. He gave up six hits, with one walk, and struck out three during the game. After missing most of 2015 while recovering from Tommy John surgery, Moore will be a key member of the Tampa Bay rotation moving forward. While spring training performance isn’t everything, it must be encouraging for the Rays to see their former ace get off to a nice start.

.@POTUS and @FLOTUS take in a game in Havana. #MLBinCuba https://t.co/fO96Yf10cr

— MLB (@MLB) March 22, 2016

Since this in an exhibition game and the TV interviews trumped what was happening on the field much of the time, we might end up remembering Obama most. He did the wave and celebrated when the Rays went ahead. He and Michelle Obama were among the happiest fans in the building.

— The Stew’s Chris Cwik contributed to this report.

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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz

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