Francisco Mejia homered and drove in three, as the Tampa Bay Rays finished off a series win on the North Side of Chicago, defeating the Cubs 8-2 in a game shortened to 5 1/2 innings due to rain.
Rays bats jumped over Cubs starter Marcus Stroman from the beginning, as Brandon Lowe drew a walk to lead off the game, and scored on a double by Randy Arozarena just two batters later. The left fielder then made it 2-0 by stealing third and scoring when Yan Gomes‘ throw went into left field for an error.
Ji-Man Choi would draw Stroman’s second walk of the inning, and he would also come around on the bat of Mejia, who blasted his second home run of the year to left-center to make it 4-0.
The top of the order would again capitalize in the second follwoing a leadoff single by Tayloir Walls, with Lowe grounding into a fielder’s choice and scoring on a double by Wander Franco.
The Cubs got on the board against Rays starter Drew Rasmussen in the third, with back-to-back one-out singles by Jonathan Villar and Ian Happ being followed by a RBI double from Frank Schwindel and a run-scoring groundout by Nick Madrigal.
But Chicago would get no closer, and the Rays would extend out their lead again in the fifth, as an error by Villar allowed Arozarena to reach to start the inning, and Josh Lowe‘s triple to right made it 6-2. Mejia’s RBI double chased Stroman from the game, and Kevin Kiermaier‘s RBI double off Daniel Norris capped the scoring.
Rasmussen would exit after just three innings, and Jalen Beeks would earn the win, pitching a scoreless fourth and fifth. The left-hander was preparing to wirk the bottom of the sixth when the umpires called for the tarps to be put on the field, and after about an hour delay, decided to make the game final as it had become an official contest.
Tampa Bay will finally get its first day off of the regular season Thursday before returning to Tropicana Field to open the next homestand against the Boston Red Sox on Friday.
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.
