Rays Put on Another Late Show, Beat Arizona 7-4 In Extra Innings Again
The Tampa Bay Rays seem to have adjusted quickly to these late-night starts in the Arizona desert.
The late-night finishes, too.
For the second straight night — and well past midnight back home in Florida — the Rays rallied late to tie their game with the Arizona Diamondbacks, and then won in extra innings. This time it was 7-4, with the Rays getting an RBI double from Junior Caminero in the 10th inning, followed by a two-run homer by Christopher Morel to win the series over Arizona.
“This was a big win, a big team win,” Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said during his postgame press conference. “The guys are pumped, and they should be.”
Yes, they should, especially considering their sluggish start. Starter Drew Rasmussen, who had only allowed two runs total in his first four starts, wasn't as sharp as he had been, leaving too many pitches over the heart of the plate. The Diamondbacks scored once in the first inning, twice in the second and No. 9 hitt Tim Tawa homered to lead off the bottom of the fifth to give the D-Backs a 4-1 lead.
Rasmussen got the final three outs in the fifth, and the Tampa Bay bullpen took it from there. Four relievers covered the final five scoreless innings, allowing just one hit. Manuel Rodriguez pitched a perfect sixth, Hunter Bigge covered the seventh and eighth with just one walk allowed, and Edwin Uceta got through the ninth
Uceta got the win after the Rays rallied in extras. Pete Fairbanks got the final three outs in the 10th to pick up his fourth save of the season for the Rays, who are now 11-14 on the year and have won all four series against National League foes Colorado, Pittsburgh. Atlanta and Arizona.
The great pitching late allowed the Rays to scrap back into the game. After doing nothing against Arizona starter Corbin Burnes through the first four innings — he faced the minimum and only allowed a fourth-inning single to Yandy Diaz that was wiped out by a double play — the Rays finally got to him in the fifth.
Kameron Misner drew a one-out walk and then scored from first on a double in the gap by Jose Caballero, who had gotten another start at shortstop. The Rays added two more in the sixth, taking advantage of another Burnes walk, this time to Brandon Lowe after a Yandy Diaz double. Caminero reached on an error, and Diaz scored, and then Morel drove in Lowe with a double to make it 4-3.
The Rays tied it in the ninth with three straight singles. Rookie Chandler Simpson to the rally rolling with a single to center and then catcher Danny Jansen, who is hitting just .148 on the year, singled to left. Diaz came through with his third hit of the night, a single to right that easily scored the speedy Simpson from second.
It was the second straight night that Diaz had three hits. In just over 24 hours, he's raised his batting average from .213 to .248.
The Rays are off to San Diego now to take on the Padres in three games at Petco Park. There are night games Friday and Saturday and an afternoon game on Sunday. The Padres are 17-8 and have the second-best record in baseball behind only the New York Mets, who are 18-7 and have won seven straight games.
Shane Baz gets the start for the Rays on Friday night. Ryan Pepiot is scheduled to pitch Saturday, with Zack Littell going Sunday.
Tom Brew is the publisher of ''Tampa Bay Rays on SI'' and has been with the Sports Illustrated platform since 2019. He has worked at some of America's finest newspapers, including the Tampa Bay Times, Indianapolis Star and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He owns eight sites on the "On SI'' network and has written four books.