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.
