Riding a four-game winning streak, the Tampa Bay Rays were back at Steinbrenner Field Saturday afternoon to take on the Miami Marlins in game two of the Citrus Series.
It was a special day for Tampa Bay fans as Evan Longoria, one of the greatest players in Rays history, signed his one-day contract to retire as a member of the Rays in a pre-game ceremony. Despite the heat, the fans honored and saluted Longoria and thanked him one last time for his contributions to the Rays.
Once those festivities were complete, it was time to play ball with Taj Bradley, who was starting for the Rays. Bradley had been outstanding in his last three starts with a 1.80 ERA and a .85 WHIP.
The Rays offense has been hotter than the summertime weather in Tampa, and they wasted no time getting some runs on the board against Miami starter Ryan Weathers. Junior Caminero led off the inning and ended up at second on a misplaced ball by Miami second baseman Xavier Edwards. Jake Mangum would then sacrifice Caminero to third. Jose Caballero walked, and then Christopher Morel hit a three-run homer, his fourth of the season, to give the Rays an early 3-0 lead.
Danny Jansen would double on another misplaced fly ball by Marlins center fielder Dane Myers. Taylor Walls doubled to left field, scoring Jansen, and the Rays had a 4-0 lead.
The Marlins offense came alive against Bradley in the top of the third inning as Miami got four runs across to tie the game at 4-4. The big blow was a three-run homer by Jesus Sanchez, his fifth of the season.
The Rays offense went back to work in the bottom of the fourth as Christopher Morel led off the inning with a double, followed by a Danny Jansen home run, his fifth of the season, to put the Rays back in front 6-4.
The top of the fifth would see the Marlins send nine batters to the plate and score six runs, knocking Bradley out of the game. Mason Montgomery would replace Bradley, and he would finally retire the Marlins, but not before giving up three runs.
Kevin Cash talked about Bradley and his performance Saturday: “Yeah, probably not as crisp as he wanted to be. I know he probably came into the game highly motivated and reset himself from his start down in Miami, but he had a start or two in between to build off. It looked like the stuff just wasn’t quite as sharp.”
Bradley gave up seven runs on six hits in four innings of work. He walked two and struck out two in what would be one of his worst starts of the season.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Rays went back to work, scoring three more runs. After a flyout to left by Jose Caballero, Morel hit his second home run of the game, a solo shot and number five on the season, to make it a 10-7 game. Jansen singled, followed by a Taylor Walls home run to right center field to cut the deficit to 10-9.
In the home half of the seventh inning, Brandon Lowe led off the inning with his 13th home run of the season to tie the game at 10-10.
The game went into extras. In the 10th inning, Heribito Hernandez, who was pinch-hitting, singled to center, scoring Otto Lopez. That would prove to be the game winner as the Marlins took game two of the series 11-10 in 10 innings.
Even though it was a loss, the bottom third of the order—Morel, Jansen, and Walls—came up huge Saturday, keeping the Rays in this game. The trio was a combined 8-for-11 with four homers and nine runs driven in. Kevin Cash likes what he sees from the offense. Cash specifically mentioned Christopher Morel, who has struggled at the plate so far this season.
“It was a really good day for him. You know, minus not winning the game, the reason for him to smile. He’s been grinding through it a little bit, not getting the most consistent playing time. But today certainly, I think he had fun out there, and got some really good swings off.”
Cash continued to heap praise on the offense: “This offense is doing some really good things. I kind of expect that. I think they expect that from themselves.”
This Rays offense has been hitting at a torrid pace since the series in Houston last weekend, scoring 60 runs in their last nine games.
With the loss, the Rays fell to 34-30, six games behind the division-leading New York Yankees and one game behind second-place Toronto.
The Rays will wrap up their series with the Marlins at Steinbrenner Field Sunday afternoon. Drew Rasmussen will get the start for the Rays.
Other Notes
- The Rays have three players who are in the running for an All-Star berth: first baseman Jonathan Aranda, third baseman Junior Camienero, and pitcher Drew Rasmussen.
- Although Rasmussen’s numbers are not flashy, he has been the best pitcher for the Rays this season, going 5-4 with a 2.14 ERA and 56 strikeouts with just 13 walks.
- Aranda is third in hitting in the American League. Overall, Aranda is hitting .324 with seven homers and 34 RBIs. Camienero is hitting .252 with 11 home runs and has driven in 32 runs.
- After a horrendous start at home to start the season, the Rays have turned things around and are now above .500 at home, going 22-20, and are 13-10 on the road.
- The road ahead: The Rays will head out on the road to play a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox next week, and then next weekend, they will visit the Big Apple to play the New York Mets.