Tampa, FL – Sean Murphy hit two homers and Michael Harris II connected on a 2-run homer in the ninth inning as the Atlanta Braves came back to defeat the Tampa Bay Rays 5-4 on Saturday afternoon at George Steinbrenner Field.
Dylan Lee (1-1, 4.05 ERA) earns the win and Raisel Iglesias worked the ninth to pick up his second save as the Braves improve to 4-10 on the season.
Cole Sulser (0-1, 18.00 ERA) takes the loss for the Rays who fall to 6-8. Sulser allowed one of the four homers by Rays relievers. Manuel Rodriguez allowed one and Hunter Bigge allowed a pair. The loss marks the first game the Rays have lost when leading by multiple runs entering the eighth inning since June 22, 2023 against the Kansas City Royals.
Junior Caminero gave the Ray a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first by swatting his second home run of the season. The lead was extended to 2-0 in the bottom of the third inning when Jonathan Aranda walked with the bases loaded.
The Ray had a chance to open the game up in the bottom of the third inning loading the bases with 1-out. After the Aranda walked scored the second run, Christopher Morel struck out looking and Kameron Misner struck out swinging.
Drew Rasmussen delivered five scoreless innings allowing just four hits while striking out seven and walking one. The five innings matched a season high and the seven strikeouts set a season high as did his 80 pitches. In a game featuring four home runs served up by Rays pitching, Rasmussen did not allow one. With today’s start he extends his homerless streak to 60.1-IP, the eighth longest in franchise history.
The Rays loaded the bases with nobody out in the home half of the sixth inning but were unable to score. Jose Caballero struck out, Taylor Walls tried to surprise the defense with a bunt but pitcher Rafael Montero came off the mound and threw home for the force out, and Ben Rortvedt followed with groundout to second.
The sting of the missed opportunity was felt when Sean Murphy led off the seventh inning with a homer off Manuel Rodriguez that cut the Rays lead to 2-1. It was Murphy’s second homer on the year. Rodriguez had worked a scoreless sixth inning and struck out Bryan De La Cruz before turning the ball over to Garrett Cleavinger.
Cleavinger struck out pinch-hitter Stuart Fairchild but allowed a single to nine hole hitter Nick Allen and walked the left-handed hitting Michael Harris after being up in the count 0-2. Kevin Cash called to the bullpen for Edwin Uceta to face the dangerous Austin Riley with runners on 1st and 2nd and 2-out. Uceta struck out Riley on three pitches to end the Atlanta threat and maintain the 2-1 Rays lead.
It looked as if the Rays frustration with stranding runner was going to continue in the home half of the seventh. Yandy Diaz opened the frame with a double but Brandon Lowe flew out to left and Junior Caminero struck out. Jonathan Aranda cashed the run in delivering a 2-out RBI single to extend the lead to 3-1.
Hunter Bigge was summoned from the bullpen to protect the lead in the eighth inning. Ozzie Albies delivered a solo homer with 2-out in the top of the eighth to narrow the margin at 3-2. Sean Murphy followed with his second homer of the afternoon to tie the game at 3-3.
Jose Caballero singled and stole second with one out in the eighth. With Taylor Walls batting Caballero was picked off second trying to steal third. It was the third out on the bases on the afternoon for the Rays and to make matters worse, Walls singled to left. Walls himself appeared to have been picked off but a balk was called on Dylan Lee. Danny Jansen, pinch hitting for Ben Rortvedt drew a walk to bring Yandy Diaz to the plate. Unfortunately, Diaz wasn’t able to erase the baserunning gaffe by Caballero and grounded into a fielders choice to end the inning.
Cole Sulser, just recalled from Durham to replace Kevin Kelly, came in to work the top of the ninth. Nick Allen led off with a double that just popped out of a diving Kameron Misner’s glove on the track in right center field. Michael Harris followed with a 2-run homer to put the Braves ahead 5-3. It was Atlanta’s fourth home run of the game, all coming against the Rays bullpen after the sixth inning.
Jonathan Aranda cut the lead to 5-4 with a homer in the ninth. It was Aranda’s second homer of the year. For all the negatives on the bases and in the batters box, Jonathan Aranda was a bright spot. He finished the game 3-for-3 with a pair of walks and three runs driven in. He had an RBI single, a RBI bases loaded walk, and a solo homer in the ninth.
After the game, Kevin Cash spoke about the lack of driving in runs coming away with just a run when loading the bases in the 3rd and 6th innings. “The frustration starts to mount, there’s a big difference between 5-1 and 3-1 and we couldn’t get it there.” Drew Rasmussen continues to believe that the offense will come around suggesting that the Rays are “putting together good at-bats we’re hitting the ball hard.”
Next Up For Rays:
The Rays and Braves finish their three game series on Sunday afternoon at 1:40 p.m. Shane Baz (1-0, 1.38 ERA) takes the mound for the Rays. The Braves counter with left-hander Chris Sale (0-1, 6.75 ERA).
