Rays Recover From Slow Start, Beat A's in Extra Innings on Manuel Margot's Single
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Kevin Cash talks often about the fact that his Tampa Bay Rays team is good about flushing bad performances and quickly getting back on track. It's a good trait to have.
That mindset got put to the test though on Tuesday night, when the Rays once again fell behind early and had a starting pitcher struggle to get outs. But six unanswered runs and clutch hits in extra innings by Wander Franco and Manuel Margot gave the Rays a much-needed — even this early — 9-8 victory over the Oakland Athletics at Tropicana Field.
The win came on the heels of an ugly 13-2 loss Monday night, and after falling behind 3-0 in the first inning when start Tommy Romero, who was making his major-league debut, struggled with his control, the scene was set for another tough one.
But resiliency is a real thing, and the Rays roared back into the game and even after giving the lead back in the seventh inning, they found a way to win.
"It felt like we were mirroring last night’s game out of the gate,'' Cash said of falling in that three-run hole. They gave up four runs in the first inning on Monday. "But we came right back. Brandon (Lowe) gets a leadoff homer (in the first inning) and Ji-Man hits a three-run homer (in the second) and we were really feeling good.''
Romero, who was called up to start after Ryan Yarbrough was put on the 10-day injured list, only lasted an inning and two-thirds. He threw 59 pitches to get those five outs, and walked five batters. He started the game with two walks, and then Oakland's Jed Lowrie hit a three-run homer.
Once again, the Rays bullpen came to the rescue. Jeffrey Springer pitched 1 1/3 innings of hitless ball and Brooks Raley threw two shutout innings, allowing just one hit, and that helped the Rays regain control of the game. The second inning was big, being able to regain the lead so quickly. In front of Choi's homer, Mike Zunino had doubled and scored on a Taylor Walls single, and Lowe walked. Just like that, it was 5-3.
The Rays stretched the lead to 6-3 on a Brett Phillips solo home run and answered again in the sixth after the A's had added a run. In the bottom of the inning, Wander Franco tripled in the gap in right-center and scored on a Choi single to make it 7-4.
Cash turned to Ralph Garza Jr. in the seventh. Garza, who had just been called up this week too, got two quick outs, but then walked two batters. Seth Brown singled to right to cut the lead to 7-5 and then catcher Sean Murphy doubled to tie the game.
Garza stayed out there for the eighth and ninth, not allowing a run and forcing extra innings.
The Rays, who were just 7-12 a year ago in extra innings in their 100-win season, looked to be in trouble again when the A's got a run off of Ryan Thompson, but they answered quickly in the bottom of the inning.
Franco, who now has 11 hits in the first five games, doubled in a run to tie the game, and then Margot — who came to the plate after Josh Lowe was walked intentionally — singled to left for the win, the second walk-off hit of his career. The Rays are now 4-1 and, even though it's very early, in first place in the American League East.
“What Wander has done early on has been very impressive,'' Cash said. "I appreciated those at-bats, and at the end we needed every bit of it.''
The Franco and Margot hits were big because the Rays were just 4-for-19 with runners in scoring position prior to that.
"Wander is a phenomenal player. He does phenomenal things and he's always prepared,'' Margot said through translator Manny Navarro. "I was just trying to go out there and be aggressive. I had a feeling that they would walk him because they weren't giving him anything good to hit, so I was just going to be prepared for that.
"It was definitely an emotional moment, and it was great to celebrate with my teammates.''
The two teams meet again on Wednesday night, with Opening Day starters Shane McClanahan (0-0) and Frankie Montas (0-1) squaring off. The game starts 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.