Ray surrendered one run on two hits and two walks while striking out six batters across 3.1 innings Friday in the Diamondbacks' 7-2 win over the Royals in Cactus League play.
Ray was lights out through three innings and threw 24 of his 33 pitches for strikes, with his lone mistake coming on his final pitch of the afternoon, when Paulo Orlando connected on a solo home run. The outing represents a dramatic step forward for Ray after he failed to escape the first inning and was charged with five earned runs in his second start of the spring March 3 against the Dodgers. Per Craig Grialou of ArizonaSports.com, Ray credited his between-starts bullpen session for getting the timing of his pitches back on track Friday, and he's hopeful to carry that form into the regular season.