Rays Explode Late, Roll Past Royals 7-1 Thanks to Patino's Emergency Start

Young pitcher Luis Patino came to the rescue for the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday night, pitching 5 2/3 scoreless innings in the Rays' 7-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals. The Rays scored five runs late to blow the game open.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — One of the big reasons why the Tampa Bay Rays have won the American League East the past two years has been their ability to score runs late. They were No. 1 in scoring runs in the final third of games a year ago.

That hasn't been the case this year, but it sure was on Thursday night, when the Rays scored five runs in the seventh inning to blow open their game with the Kansas City Royals, winning 7-1. 

It was a huge moment for the Rays, considering the circumstances. They had lost after midnight the night before in extra innings in New York, and the sun was rising on Thursday morning by the time some players made it back home to their own beds.

Tired and fatigued and very short on bullpen options, the Rays called up Luis Patino from Durham to start the game, and he came through in a huge way. He pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings and allowed just four hits.

Patino, who suffered an oblique strain in the first inning of his first start back in April, missed three months of the season and then was roughed up in two July starts before getting sent back to Durham for more seasoning. He gave up five runs, 11 hits and four walks in just 7 1/3 innings of work.

But he's been much better at Durham and seemed ready to help the Rays in their postseason push. It was his first win of the season.

"I felt really good. I've been in the process of being able to recover from my injuries... the confidence has definitely gone up and I think my preparation really helped me in this game today."

Luis Patiño talks about what went in to helping the @RaysBaseball secure the win. pic.twitter.com/RoFZaClK6F

— Bally Sports Sun: Rays (@BallyRays) August 19, 2022

“I don’t think it’s fair to expect (Patino) to come in and shut down a major-league team, and he did,” manager Kevin Cash said. “He was super efficient. I think he probably had more left in the tank, we just couldn’t separate (the lead) early on. … Really, really excited about Luis. His stuff was exactly what we were hoping for off of his last start.

"He's a big, big weapon. If we can bottle that up and build off of it, he will really help us.''

Patino, a 22-year-old Colombian native, left with a 1-0 lead thanks to a Yandy Diaz home run in the first inning. He stepped up in a big way, especially at a time when the Rays needed him the most, hitting 97 on the radar gun at times.

"I felt really good, thank God, and my confidence has really gone up and my preparation has really helped a lot today,'' Patino said through translator Manny Navarro. ''I've trusted the process and I've been hoping to get the results to come along with it too. The confidence has been there, especially after my last start (at Durham) and I thought all my stuff was good tonight.

"I think I was able to show them that I'm here to help the team, and that I'm capable of doing that.''

He got the win thanks to the huge offensive explosion in the bottom of the seventh. It was still 1-0 after Colin Poche had relieved Patino, but the embattled left-hander got four straight outs to maintain the one-run margin. With one out, the Royals brought in Brad Keller to pitch. The former starter, relegated to the bullpen after giving up eight runs each in TWO different August starts, got roughed up again, allowing all five runs to the Rays.

He gave up six hits in the rally, three straight singles from Christian Bethancourt, Roman Quinn and Jose Siri, followed by an RBI double by Diaz, an RBI single from Brandon Lowe and a double by Randy Arozarena. The fifth run scored on a wild pitch.

"He's totally fine, he's probably going to get the day off anyways tomorrow... Took him out precautionary. Expect if we need him off the bench, he will hit off the bench."

Kevin Cash begins his post game press conference with an update on Yandy Díaz. pic.twitter.com/YhcGceWY4g

— Bally Sports Sun: Rays (@BallyRays) August 19, 2022

With the win, the Rays are now 63-54, and sit nine games behind the Yankees in the AL East. They are tied with the Toronto Blue Jays for the final two wild-card spots, and lead the Minnesota Twins by 1.5 games, the Baltimore Orioles by 2.5, and the Chicago White Sox by three games.

The two teams meet again on Friday night, with Shane McClanahan (11-5, 2.28 ERA) pitching for Tampa Bay. Brady Singer (6-4, 3.29 ERA) will pitch for the Royals. He beat the Rays on July 23 in Kansas City, allowing just one run over six innings.