The Rays had to improvise again, and this time the bullpen carried the load.
With Griffin Jax scratched because of right elbow discomfort, Tampa Bay turned Saturday into a bullpen game and still came away with a 3-2 win over the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park. The victory gave the Rays their fifth straight, sealed the series on the road, and pushed them to 70 wins on the season. They also moved four games ahead of the New York Yankees in the American League East and finished with a winning record away from home.
Kevin Cash made the quick adjustment after the late change to the rotation, and Casey Legumina got the start. From there, seven relievers covered the rest of the night.
Most of them were sharp. Cam Boozer and Garrett Cleavinger were the only ones to allow a run, with Josh Naylor’s solo homer in the bottom of the seventh briefly tightening things up.
Stephen Matz earned the win after tossing two innings and striking out two. Cleavinger and Kevin Kelly each added a hold, helping bridge the game to the back end.
Bryan Baker finished it off and set a Rays franchise record in the process. His save was his 34th of the year, and it marked his 23rd straight successful conversion, the most in team history.
Tampa Bay didn’t exactly light up the scoreboard, but it did enough. The Rays finished with seven hits and three runs, including Victor Mesa Jr.’s home run in the top of the fourth off George Kirby. Chandler Simpson and Richie Palacios were the only Rays with multiple hits, and the club went just 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position.
That’s been the pattern lately: not much margin, but enough production to keep winning. Even so, there are signs the bats could use some cleanup. Yandy Diaz, Jonathan Aranda, and Junior Caminero combined to go 1-for-13 with four strikeouts on Saturday.
There was more injury-related concern before the first pitch, too. Taylor Walls was removed from the lineup because of low back tightness, though he later came off the bench to pinch hit. With Jax scratched and Walls unavailable to start, the Rays were forced to navigate another uneasy night with the roster.
Still, the result was the same. Tampa Bay has a chance to sweep the Mariners on Sunday and go for a sixth straight win.
Ian Seymour is scheduled to start against right-hander Emerson Hancock, with first pitch set for 4:10 p.m. Eastern.
In Other News...
Rays Just Turned A Great Season Into A Real Title Push
The Rays spent the trade deadline acting like a club that believed its best days were still ahead, not behind it. Tampa Bay brought in Liam Hicks, Freddy Peralta and Tyler Wells to deepen the roster and shore up a team that was already sitting atop the American League, a sign that the front office saw a real chance to turn a strong season into something more dangerous in October.
The numbers back up the ambition, too. ESPN analyst Bradford Doolittle has the Rays at 99.9% playoff odds and a 13.0% World Series win probability, which is the kind of jump that changes how the rest of the league views a contender. Some metrics still point to regression, but for now Tampa Bay has the look of a team that did more than just protect its place in the standings. [Read more 🡒]
Rays Bullpen Could Get Relief At Exactly The Right Time
The Rays have spent much of the summer piecing together their pitching staff with several arms on the injured list, including Cole Sulser, Shane McClanahan and Griffin Jax. In that kind of climate, any sign of help on the way matters, especially for a bullpen that has had to absorb plenty of strain while waiting for reinforcements to heal up and make progress.
Manuel Rodriguez has been moving through a rehab assignment and is trending toward a return after elbow surgery, which gives Tampa Bay a potential late-season lift at a time it could use one. His recent minor league work has looked encouraging, and the Rays will be watching closely to see whether he can bring the kind of stability that makes the rest of the bullpen picture a little easier to manage. [Read more 🡒]
Chandler Simpson Is Becoming A Huge Part Of Tampa Bays Surge
Chandler Simpson kept giving the Rays exactly the kind of spark that has helped fuel their recent surge, and on a day when Tampa Bay completed a sweep of Seattle, the rookie found himself in a more prominent spot in the order. Kevin Cash slid Simpson into the No. 3 hole and the move paid off right away, with Simpson going 4-for-5 and piling up three singles, a double and a run scored while the Rays kept putting pressure on the Mariners.
His speed remains the constant that changes innings for Tampa Bay, and it showed again as Simpson swiped his 31st base of the season and created stress on the basepaths throughout the game. Cash also shuffled the lineup to sandwich left-handed hitters between right-handed bats against Emerson Hancock, a wrinkle that fit the moment and left Simpson in the middle of it, another sign that the Rays are finding more ways to lean on his all-around impact. [Read more 🡒]