Rays Win Third Straight taking Game 1 against Mariners
Photo by Caean Couto (AP Photo)
The Tampa Bay Rays continue finding ways to dominate this season. Last night after tying the game against the Seattle Mariners at 4 in the 6th inning, the game would quickly get out of hand in the 8th inning when the Rays plated 8 runs before adding 3 in the 9th to win 15-4. Let's run it back to the beginning of the game to figure out how it all happened.
Starting for the Rays was their ace Shane McClanahan who was supposed to start on Wednesday against the Arizona Diamondbacks, but unfortunately due to mid-back tightness which caused him to leave early in his last start on June 22nd against the Kansas City Royals, the Rays decided to give McClanahan more time to rest and moved his start to last night. Unfortunately for the Rays, their ace could not really get much done for the team as he only went 3 innings, giving up 4 runs, one being a 2-run homerun off the bat of Tom Murphy. McClanahan after the game would go on to say, “I’m frustrated, you know obviously I want to go out there and help this team win and I didn’t do that, this start and last start and I am ready to get the ball moving in the right direction.”
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The Mariners sent out their rookie fireballer Bryce Miller, who came out hot striking out 5 of the first 7 batters he faced. After the Mariners took the 4-0 lead in the 2nd inning, it seemed like the cruising Miller would just need to keep doing what he was doing. Unfortunately for Miller and the Mariners, after getting Wander Franco to fly out, Mariners Manager Scott Servais and Head Athletic Trainer Kyle Gibson would head over to the mound and check on the pitcher. It would appear he had an issue with a blister, but Servais and Gibson would allow Miller to continue pitching. Miller would walk Luke Raley before Randy Arozarena would tag him for a 2-run homerun. Servais and Gibson would again come back out and take Bryce Miller out the game.
The Rays would score one run in both the 5th and 6th inning before a stagnant 7th inning. In the 8th inning the Rays offense would explode batting around. All in all, the Rays hit 3 singles, 4 doubles, 2 stolen bases, 2 fielder's choice and a sacrifice fly. The Rays would continue on in the top of the 9th where the Mariners would put in Mike Ford off the bench to pitch the inning. On his first pitch Jose Siri would tag him for his 16th homerun of the year. Taylor Walls would follow up with a single, which was then followed by a Christian Bethancourt double putting Walls on third base. Vidal Brujan would ground out to first base, scoring Walls and moving Bethancourt to third base. Mike Ford would then get Wander Franco to also ground out scoring Bethancourt and after getting Luke Raley to fly out to end the inning.
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In tonight’s second game of the series, Tyler Glasnow and George Kirby will get the start for the Rays and Mariners respectively. Glasnow is sporting a record of 2-1 with a 4.45 ERA, while Kirby has a 6-7 record with a 3.26 ERA. First pitch is scheduled for 7:15 PM EDT.
