After coming back from down 4-1 in the ninth inning to win Friday, the Tampa Bay Rays rallied from down 4-0 after two innings Saturday, but fell short of their third consecutive win, dropping a 4-3 decision to the Detroit Tigers.
Rays starter Ryan Yarbrough nearly got out of the first inning unscathed after allowing leadoff singles to Akil Baddoo and Jomathan Schoop, he struck out Robbie Grossman and got Miguel Cabrera to ground into a fielder’s choice, but Jeimer Candelario followed with a blast off the batters’ eye in center, his 16th home run of the year, giving the Tigers a 3-0 lead.
Dusin Garneau made it 4-1 leading off the first with a solo shot to left, his fifth of the year.
But after that homer, Yarbrough would settle down, and he would retire the final 13 batters in a row to get through six complete.
Tampa Bay got on the board in the bottom of the second, as manuel Margot led off against Tarik Skubal with a base hit, and Jordan Luplow followed up with a two-run homer to left, his 11th of the season.
Those two helped cut the deficit back to a single run in the fourth, wit Margot drawing a leadoff walk from Jose Urena and Luplow singling him to third before Ji-Man Choi‘s double play grounder allowed Margot to make it 4-3.
The Rays had opportunities with runners in scoring position in each of the final four innings, but could not get the tying run across. The best opportunitiy may have come in the ninth when Michael Fulmer walked Mike Zunino to lead off the inning and hit Joey Wendle with a pitch to bring up Brett Phillips with a chance to be the hero for the second straight night. But Phillips struck out, and Yandy Diaz grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to end the game.
The loss allows Boston to get within seven and a half games of the Rays in the American League East standings.
The Rays and Tigers wrap up their series Sunday afternoon, with left-hander Shane McClanahan (9-5, 3.59 ERA) taking on Wily Peralta (3-3, 3.52 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 1:10.
Steve Carney is the founder and publisher of St. Pete Nine. One of the people most associated with baseball coverage in Tampa Bay, he spent 13 seasons covering the Rays for flagship radio station WDAE, first as producer of Rays Radio broadcasts, then as beat reporter beginning in 2011. He likes new analytics and aged bourbon, and is the owner of one of the ugliest knuckleballs ever witnessed by baseball scouts.
