However, for as bad as this stretch was, his last four games have been a revelation, a return to form for D\u00edaz, coming at just the right time, as the Rays completed their first-ever 9-0 road trip on Wednesday afternoon with an 8-4 win over the Athletics.<\/p>\n
During those four games, D\u00edaz went 10-for-19 (.526) at the plate with two homers, five RBI, a double and seven runs scored, getting him back above .300 on the year, though just slightly.<\/p>\n
This road trip, as successful as it\u2019s been for Tampa Bay, has been equally successful for Diaz, who hit .307 across the nine games and is hitting .304 so far in August with five multi-hit games to his name.<\/p>\n
\u201cI kind of hate it, how easy it is [for D\u00edaz] because it\u2019s a lot harder for the rest of us,\u201d Rays outfielder Jonny DeLuca told MLB.com\u2019s Adam Berry earlier this season<\/a>. \u201cHe\u2019s pretty special.\u201d<\/p>\n As D\u00edaz has begun to hit once again, he\u2019s also reached several career milestones on the hottest team in baseball, a team that now sits alone with MLB\u2019s best record, 74-46.<\/p>\n The first came in Tampa Bay\u2019s series opener in Sacramento, as D\u00edaz hit his 115th career homer in a Rays uniform, moving into sixth place all-time in franchise history, surpassing Ben Zobrist.\u00a0<\/p>\n His second homer of the series just a day later broke another tie with Zobrist, this one for the third-most hits for a Rays player all-time, the 1,017th hit of Diaz\u2019s tenure with Tampa Bay.<\/p>\n