You had a feeling that Shohei Ohtani was due to have a big day. You just hoped that it came after he left Tampa Bay. Unfortunately, that wouldn’t be the case.
The Angels designated hitter finished a single shy of his second career cycle and drove in three, and Phil Gosselin‘s solo homer in the eighth broke a 4-4 tie, leading to a 6-4 decision over the Rays Sunday at Tropicana Field.
Ohtani keyed Los Angeles taking the lead off Rays starter Ryan Yarbrough in the fourth, as the Angels designated hitter drew a leadoff walk, stole second base, took third two batters later on a groundout by Jared Walsh and scored on an infield single by Gosselin.
Brandon Lowe tied the game up in the bottom of the inning, taking Angels starter Patrick Sandoval deep for his 15th home run of the year.
Ohtani broke the tie in the top of the sixth against Yarbrough, following a David Fletcher single by doubling into the right-field corner, allowing Fletcher to score all the way from first base to make it a 2-1 game.
The Angels lead would be short-lived, as Wander Franco broke an 0 for 18 skid with a base hit to right, and Austin Meadows following with a single that moved the rookie shortstop from first to third. Joe Maddon brought in Mike Mayers to face Randy Arozarena, who popped out for the first out of the inning, but Ji-Man Choi picked up his teammate by connecting for a three-run homer, his third of the year, giving Tampa Bay a 4-2 lead.
But Los Angeles would counter again in the top of the seventh against Ryan Thompson, as Taylor Ward doubled leading off the inning, moving to third on a groundout by Kurt Suzuki. Juan Lagares then battled Thompson for ten pitches before lining a double to left to cut the lead to 4-3. Fletcher grounded out for the second out of the frame, and Kevin Cash made the decision to use Jeffrey Springs to pitch to Ohtani, who tripled in Lagares to tie the game.
Gosselin broke the tie leading off the eighth against Matt Wisler, as his second home run of the year gave the Angels a lead they would not relinquish, and Ohtani set the scoring with an opposite field home run off Pete Fairbanks, his 25th of the year.
The loss drops Tampa Bay back behind the Boston Red Sox for the lead in the American League East.
The Rays have Monday off before starting a two-game series in Washington, DC against the Nationals beginning Tuesday evening.
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.
