Tampa, FL – Junior Caminero, Danny Jansen, and Christopher Morel each homered to lead the Tampa Bay Rays to a 8-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Saturday afternoon at George Steinbrenner Field.
Ryan Pepiot (5-6, 3.04 ERA) picked up the win working five innings allowing one earned run on three hits while striking out seven walking two and hitting two batters. With the win the Rays improve to a season high nine game over .500 at 43-34 and also guarantee themselves a series win to improve to 12-4-2 over their last 18 series.
Brant Hurter (2-3, 2.29 ERA) takes the loss working 0.2-innings and allowing four runs (all unearned) on two hits while striking out two, walking two, and hitting a batter. With the loss, the Tigers fall to 48-30 on the season.
The game featured the debut of Rays right hander Paul Gervase who was summoned from Triple-A. After the game he spoke about getting the word last night around 11:30 p.m. He was in an Uber to the airport in Omaha at 2:30 a.m. for a flight to Atlanta and then a connection flight to Tampa. He arrived at the stadium around the second inning and just went down to the bullpen, skipping any reporting in the dugout according to Manager Kevin Cash. His family also made the trip down from North Carolina, driving overnight to make the game.
The Rays jumped out to a 4-0 lead by batting around in the first inning. The inning was aided on a strikeout/passed ball that allowed Brandon Lowe to reach firs and he moved to third on a Jonathan Aranda double. Aranda’s double extended his batting streak to seven games. Christopher Morel walked to load the bases. Josh Lowe walked plating Brandon Lowe and Jose Caballero was hit by a pitch scoring Jonathan Aranda with the Rays second run Taylor Walls followed with a 2-RBI single to double the rays lad to 4-0. With his hit, Taylor Walls extended his on-base streak to a career high 12 straight games. The Rays have scored four or more runs in the first inning in back-to-back game for just the second time in franchise history (also, September 8-9, 2018 vs. Baltimore Orioles).
Tampa Bay pushed their lead to 5-0 in the second inning on a Yandy Diaz double and Brandon Lowe RBI single. With the double Yandy Diaz extends his batting streak to 12 straight games and his on-base streak to 16 straight. Brandon Lowe extended his hitting streak to 10 games with his single and pushed his on-base streak to 12 games.
Detroit scored their first run in the top of the fourth inning cutting the Rays lead to 5-1. Javier Baez was hit by a pitch to leadoff the inning and went to third on a single by Parker Meadows who moved to second when Morel threw wildly to third. Baez scored on a Jake Rogers groundout.
Tampa Bay answered the Tigers in the bottom of the fourth when Danny Jansen led off the inning with his seventh homer on the season. It marks his first homer since June 21st against the Mets. Junior Caminero hit his 18th homer to push the Rays lead to 7-1. Christopher Morel extended the lead to 8-1 with a solo homer in the bottom of the seventh. It was his sixth homer on the season and his first since June 7th against the Miami Marlins.
Detroit rallied in the eighth inning scoring two unearned runs to cut the lead to 8-3 . The inning was aided by a Brandon Lowe error allowing Javier Baez to reach safely. After the error, Detroit had runners on first and second and pinch hitter Jahmai Jones at bat. Jones worked a 13-pitch at-bat and doubled driving in Wencel Perez. Dillon Dingler followed with a sac fly to score Javier Baez.
RAYS ROSTER MOVE:
Prior to the game, the Tampa Bay Rays called up reliever Paul Gervase from the Triple-A Durham Bulls. To take his spot on the roster, reliever Connor Seabold was optioned to the Bulls. The Rays 40-man roster was at 39; therefore, a spot was not required to be opened. Gervase will be making his big league debut when he enters a game.
Gervase was acquired from the New York Mets in exchange for reliever Tyler Zuber on July 30, 2024. After the trade, Gervase reported to the Rays Double-A affiliate Montgomery Biscuits where he finished the season. He worked in 15 game and posted a 1-0 mark with a 3.5 ERA while striking out 31 batters in 17.2IP (15.8 K/9). This season with the Bulls he’s worked in 23 games posting a 2-3 mark with a 3.78 ERA while striking out 50 in 33.1 innings (13.5 K/9).
Up Next For Rays:
The Rays and the Tigers will wrap up their three game series on Sunday afternoon at 12:10 p.m. Zack Littell (6-7, 3.88 ERA) will take the mound for the Rays. The Tigers will counter with right handed pitcher Casey Mize (7-2, 2.96 ERA).
