The Tampa Bay Rays could not hold on to leads on 4-0 and 5-1, but then rallied from down 8-5 in the sixth inning to take the first game of their homestand with a 9-8 walkoff victory over the Cleveland Indians Monday at Tropicana Field.
Trailing by a run going in to the bottom of the ninth as going up against Indians closer Emmanuel Clase, Manuel Margot led off with an infield single, though he left with an injured left hamstring. Randy Arozarena followed with a base hit to move pinch-runner Brett Phillips into scoring position, and Wander Franco doubled Phillips in to tie the game.
Clase intentionally walked Auston Meadows to load the bases for Yandy Diaz, whose chopper to second allowed Arozarena to score on a fielder’s choice to end the game when the throw home was late.
Tampa Bay jumped on Indians starter Logan Allen to start things with one away in the second, as Diaz singled, moving to third on a double by Ji-Man Choi, and a walk to Mike Zunino. Brandon Lowe then unloaded on Allen left-on-left for his first career grand slam, his 17th home run of the year and a 4-0 advantage.
Cleveland got on the scoreboard initially against Rays starter Rich Hill in the fourth after Amed Rosario doubled to lead off the inning, and scoring two batters later on a Franmil Reyes single.
The Rays would get that run back in the bottom of the fourth on a Margot sacrifice fly, scoring Lowe. who had walked and moved to third on a Kevin Kiermaier base hit.
But after getting the final out of the fourth, Drew Rasmussen didn’t have an answer for the Indians in the fifth, allowing runs on a groundout by Rosario, a base hit by Ramirez and a two-run homer by Reyes.
The top of the Cleveland order struck again an inning later against J.P. Feyereisen, with Cesar Hernandez singling in Oscar Mercado to break the tie, and Reyes delivering another two-run double to take an 8-5 lead.
The Rays got a run back in the bottom of the sixth thanks to a RBI single by Margot off reliever Nick Wittgren, and Diaz made it 8-7 in the seventh with a solo homer, his fifth of the year, off Bryan Shaw.
The Tampa Bay bullpen finally got back on track in the seventh, as Andrew Kittredge worked two scoreless frames, and Pete Fairbanks (2-3) earned the win with a perfect top of the ninth.
The victory improves Tampa Bay’s record to 49-36, and they move one half-game up on Oakland for the first Wild Card.
Tampa Bay’s contest on Tuesday has already been postponed due to Tropical Storm Elsa, and the Rays and Indians will play a single-admission doubleheader on Wednesday. Michael Wacha (1-2, 5.26 ERA) will start the first seven-inning contest, taking on J.C. Mejia (1-3, 6.18 ERA). First pith is scheduled for 12:10 Wednesday afternoon.
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.
