A fourth inning that featued two errors by Tampa Bay’s surest infield defenders led to Josh Fleming giving up seven unearned runs and allowed the Seattle Mariners to take an 8-4 decision from the Rays Tuesday at Tropicana Field.
Fleming’s troubles started with a base hit to Jesse Winder and a walk to Eugenio Suarez. After J.P. Crawford lined out for the first out of the inning, Abraham Toro rolled what looked to be a perfect double play ground ball to short, but Wander Franco‘s underhand throw handcuffed Brandon Lowe for an error, loading the bases, and Ji-Man Choi‘s throwing error on Tom Murphy‘s chopper allowed Seattle to take a 2-0 lead. Julio Rodriguez scored Toro to make it 3-0, and after Dylan Moore was hit by a pitch, Adam Frazier made it 6-0, clearing the bases with a double, then scored on a Ty France single to push the deficit to seven.
Fleming ended up throwing 44 of his 60 pitches in that inning.
Phoenix Sanders allowed the only earned run of the game in the sixth, giving up a triple to Moore, and after a walk to Frazier , France’s sacrifice fly made it 8-0.
Tampa Bay finally got on the board in the home half of the seventh, as Manuel Margot walked against reliever Matt Koch, and after Josh Lowe grounded into a fielder’s choice, Rene Pinto, who came on as a defensive replacement for Mike Zunino after the veteran left with soreness in his left biceps, hit a two-run homer for his first major league hit.
Lowe followed with a base hit, and Franco made it 8-4 with a two-run blast of his own, his fourth of the year.
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.
