The Tampa Bay Rays took care of business late against the Seattle Mariners on Monday night, 4-3.
The first half of the game was predicated on the performance of starter Taj Bradley.
Bradley finished with a stat line of 5.1 innings pitched, allowing two hits and a run.
“I thought it was great,” said Bradley on his outing. “You get another hard part, one I got to strike out. So, I mean, I continue to work. I was happy that I had the curveball and cutter coming to play. I’m just working on getting it to just come in.”
The right-handed starter for the Mariners, Bryan Woo, would also similarly match Bradley’s pacing early in the game.
The 3-1 starter for Seattle finished his outing prematurely, allowing five hits and only one run before getting pulled in the 4th due to tightness in his right hamstring.
The first run of the game would come in the form of a 1-out solo blast to right centerfield by Cal Raleigh in the top of the 4th, giving Seattle a 1-0 lead.
Following Seattle’s change to Taylor Saucedo after Woo’s injury, Saucedo would commit two costly mistakes, allowing 2B Richie Palacios to score after a wild pitch.
In the top of the 7th, DH Mitch Garver connected on a 2-run homer off right-hander Chris Devenski following a leadoff walk allowed to RF Dominic Canzone. This would put Seattle up 3-1.
Former Ray Ryne Stanek would hold the Rays in the bottom of the 7th, grabbing the final three outs after a leadoff single by Jose Caballero.
However, that would be short-lived at the bottom of the 8th.
Diaz grabbed the go-ahead RBI-single in the bottom of the 8th to give Tampa Bay the win. (Alex Walworth/Legends OnDeck)
After back-to-back outs to leadoff the 8th, Taylor Walls and Jose Siri would both get on base to set up a Ben Rortvedt RBI ground rule double.
Walls would come across to score, which would ensue a late run by Tampa Bay’s offense, taking the lead off a clutch RBI-single by Yandy Diaz to give the Rays a 4-3 lead.
Pete Fairbanks would then shut the door on Seattle, striking out two of the three final batters in the baseball game.
For Tampa Bay, this is now their sixth win in their last eight as the team looks towards a push above .500 before the All-Star break.
For Yandy Diaz, it is now his 17th straight game with a base hit, tying Tommy Pham (2018) and Aubrey Huff (2002) for the fourth-longest hitting streak in the team’s history.
The Rays will be back in action tomorrow, looking to take the series early against the Mariners. First Pitch is scheduled for 6:50 p.m. EST/3:50 p.m. PST.
