Tampa Bay Bullpen Slams Door on Rangers, Help Rays Win 5-3
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Tampa Bay bullpen hasn't been perfect all year, but they've been pretty darn good. And some days, like Sunday, they are literally untouchable.
That was the case in the final game of the year at Tropicana Field against the Texas Rangers. The Rays, chasing a playoff spot and still holding out hopes for a division title, need every win they can get right now.
The bullpen, which has only allowed one run in its last 20 innings of work, made sure that happened in an intense but fun 5-3 win. They retired 10 batters in a row to close out the game.
Rays starter Jeffrey Springs was very good on Sunday, but ran into a little trouble in the sixth, though not all of it was his fault. A three-run lead had slipped to one, and after Springs hit Josh Jung with his 94th pitch to put two men on, manager Kevin Cash strolled out of the dugout to start the parade of Rays relievers.
Right-hander Javy Guerra, who was unimpressive in two early stints with the Rays, has been used in several high-leverage situations in September, and he's been very good. On Sunday, he struck out Sam Huff to end the threat in the sixth, and then got the first two outs in the seventh before stepping aside for lefty Brooks Raley, who got the final out. In 3 1/3 scoreless innings this month, he's allowed just one hit.
"I think his conviction to keep the ball over the plate, keep it in zone, has helped him. There's a reason why he was our minor-league relief pitcher of the year, was named that'' Cash said of Guerra, the 26-year-old Panama native that the Rays picked up from San Diego in early April. "Certainly, he's earned the opportunity to get back up here, and he's made the most of it.''
Raley threw just three pitches to end the seventh inning, and after having five days off recently, it seemed like he could have handled the eighth inning as well. Instead, Cash went with Colin Poche in the eighth, despite his occasional rough patches this summer in high-leverage situations. But he was great, striking out the heart of the Rangers' order — No. 3 hitter Nathaniel Lowe, Adolis Garcia and Matt Mathias — on just 14 pitches.
Pete Fairbanks closed out the game with two strikeouts and a lazy grounder to first, picking up his eighth save of the season. He has now gone 19 outings in a row without giving up a run. In those 19 innings, he's only given up eight hits and has struck out 30 batters.
Springs, who has spent a good part of the last two years with Fairbanks in the bullpen, said he's never seen pitch at this level before. Untouchable? He's pretty close.
"Anybody we send out there, we trust that they're going to be good and dominate,'' said Springs, who is now 9-4 on the season. "There are guys down there with elite stuff, and it's a lot of fun to watch. Nineteen consecutive without a run (for Fairbanks) sort of speaks for itself for his stuff. It's the best it's ever been, his velocity, his execution, his breaking ball.
"He's going right at hitters. I've seen him for a couple of years now and he's perfect for the ninth inning, with the mentality and approach, and he's a fiery guy. He's unbelievable, and it's nice to have him down there in the ninth inning.''
The Rays scored enough to win, too, with the bottom half of the order coming through again. Getting five runs is a good benchmark, because they are 50-8 this season when scoring five or more.
They scored twice in the second inning on back-to-back home runs by catcher Christian Bethancourt and center fielder Jose Siri, a pair of mid-season acquisitions who have done a great job replacing injured Rays stars Mike Zunino (shoulder) and Kevin Kiermaier (hip), who are both lost for the season.
The Rays made it 4-1 in the third off of Rangers starter Glenn Otto, who had held them to just one run in six innings during a Tampa Bay loss in May. Yandy Diaz singled and scored on a double by Jonathan Aranda, and he scored on a Manuel Margot single, all with none out.
Tampa Bay got an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth when Taylor Walls walked with the bases loaded to make it 5-3. That was all they needed.
The Rays are now 82-64, and are assured of a winning season now for the fifth straight year. It's their 11th winning season all-time, with all of them coming in the past 15 years of their 25-year history.
Their magic number to clinch a wild-card spot is now down to 11. Baltimore beat Toronto, so now the Rays are just a half-game behind Toronto for the No. 4 spot in the playoffs and remain 5 1/2 games ahead of the Orioles for the final playoff.
That top wild-card spot includes home-field advantage. The Rays play Toronto four times next weekend at Tropicana Field, with the first visit of the season from the league-leading Houston Astros coming first, with a three-game set from Monday through Wednesday.
"The Astros, we haven't seen them at all this year other than highlights, but they can do a lot with the bat and on the mound,'' Cash said. "We've known the schedule all along, so it will be a challenge.''
Tampa Bay will miss Houston Cy Young Award candidate Justin Verlander during this series, but the Rays are lined up well, with stars Drew Rasmussen and Shane McClanahan set to pitch on Monday and Tuesday, respectively. Corey Kluber is expected to start on Wednesday.
Houston will go with Luis Garcia (12-8, 4.04 ERA) on Monday, Christian Javier (9-9, 2.87 ERA) on Tuesday and Tampa native Lance McCullers Jr. (3-1, 2.34 ERA) on Wednesday. All three games start at 6:40 p.m. ET.
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Tom Brew is the publisher of Inside The Rays, and has been with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation network for three years. He is an award-winning writer and editor who has spent most of his four-decade career at the Tampa Bay Times, Indianapolis Star and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He has written four books.