St. Petersburg, FL – The Tampa Bay Rays scored the tying run in the bottom of the eighth on a strike out wild pitch to Amed Rosario with the bases loaded. They then scored the go-ahead run on a bases loaded Richie Palacios walk to grab the 2-1 lead. Pete Fairbanks came in to close it out in the ninth to preserve the Rays 2-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds.
Garrett Cleavinger (7-2, 3.21 ERA) picks up the win as the Rays who improve to 54-52. They earned their 10th straight rubber game victory, extending a franchise record. Fairbanks, the sixth Rays pitcher on the day, picked up his 20th save.
Fernando Cruz (3-8, 4.81 ERA) takes the loss for the Reds who fall to 50-55. It’s the Reds second straight series loss at Tropicana Field dating back to June 19-21, 2017. They have lost four of their last five series opposite the Rays.
Tampa Bay couldn’t generate any offense against Reds starter Hunter Greene who worked seven scoreless striking out five and walking one while allowing one hit. He also hit two batters,
The Rays rallied in the eighth of Cruz leading Brandon Lowe to say after the game “it’s a good thing we play nine.”
Tampa Bay originally had slated Tyler Alexander to work bulk innings behind opener Shawn Armstrong. The Reds, expecting the southpaw, loaded the lineup with right handed batters.
With the off-day on Monday, Manager Kevin Cash elected to go heavy with his right handed relievers, despite being short Jason Adam, who was dealt to the Padres prior to the game. After Armstrong worked the first two innings, Edwin Uceta worked a pair of scoreless innings, Manny Rodriguez worked one scoreless, and Tyler Zuber a pair of scoreless of his own. Garret Cleavinger worked a scoreless eighth and Fairbanks locked it down in the ninth.
It was tough for the Rays to go to a bullpen game with the news of Jason Adam being dealt before the game. Pete Fairbanks joked after the game, “I thought it was unbelievable that he bailed on us before a bullpen game.” He did reflect on the deal in a more serious matter saying “That one hurts, that’s guy. The past three years we kind of ran in the same circles. That’s a tough one. I was a little delayed starting my pre game work because I was kind of pouting it, but it’s the reality of what we’ve dug ourselves into this year.”
The two teams started the Roku TV 11:35 game. Kevin Cash was asked if the early start time was an issue for the team. “Before today I wouldn’t have before doing it. Today was a little different.” He said. “It seemed as if things were a bit rushed and everything.” Brandon Lowe commented that it was an odd experience. “I don’t know that half of our locker room is awake before 11:35. Those of us who have kids were up.” Lowe said. “There’s a good few that don’t have kids and 1:00 games are early. I left my house at 7:15 this morning, something I didn’t see myself doing in the summer. It makes this game a whole lot better with a win.”
