Rays outlasted in extras in series finale with Diamondbacks
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Wilmer Flores snapped a 13th-inning tie with an RBI single, helping the Arizona Diamondbacks end a three-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday.
Eduardo Escobar made up for a crucial throwing error, leading off the 13th with a single off Adam Kolarek (2-1) — Arizona’s first hit since the fifth inning. He moved to second on a double-play grounder before scoring on Flores’ two-out broken-bat hit to right field off Chaz Roe.
Archie Bradley (2-3) pitched three scoreless innings to get the win. Zack Godley, the eighth Diamondbacks pitcher, worked a perfect 13th for his first career save.
Arizona pitchers combined to set a franchise record with 23 strikeouts.
The Rays rallied from a 2-0 deficit to force extra innings, scoring on Escobar’s eighth-inning error and Kevin Kiermaier‘s two-out, pinch-hit single in the ninth.
Adam Jones and Ketel Marte drove in runs off Rays starter Charlie Morton for the Diamondbacks, who avoided a sweep after being outscored 18-4 in the first two games against the AL East leaders.
The Rays made it interesting in the eighth, scoring an unearned run on Escobar’s errant throw to trim Arizona’s lead to 2-1. But they failed to take advantage of eventually loading the bases with no outs.
Reliever T.J. McFarland, the third Arizona pitcher of the inning, escaped the jam by striking out Brandon Lowe and getting Willy Adames to line out to second base.
The Diamondbacks weren’t as fortunate in the ninth, when closer Greg Holland gave up a two-out double to Yandy Diaz and walked Tommy Pham intentionally before Tampa Bay tied it on Kiermaier’s single to right.
Jarrod Dyson drew a pair of leadoff walks and scored Arizona’s first two runs on a force play and Marte’s RBI single that made it 2-0 in the third. The Diamondbacks had plenty of other opportunities, but were just 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position against Morton.
Lowe extended his hitting streak to a career-best 12 games with an infield single for Tampa Bay, which was even worse than Arizona with runners in scoring position — going 0 for 12 with eight strikeouts before Kiermaier’s ninth-inning single tied it.
Robbie Ray pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings for Arizona, and allowing four hits and striking out a season-high 11. The Diamondbacks starter fanned six of the seven batters he faced with runners in scoring position.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Diamondbacks: RHP Taijuan Walker (Tommy John surgery) may start a 30-day minor league assignment soon. He threw 47 pitches at extended spring training on Monday. “Super excited about Taijuan,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “He’s feeling very good.”
Rays: C Michael Perez was placed on the 10-day injured list after with a right oblique strain that occurred during batting practice Tuesday. Perez is optimistic he will only miss two to three weeks. “Hopefully it’s a short stint, but obliques are tricky,” manager Kevin Cash said.
SMALL CROWDS
Attendance for the three-game series was just 24,846. Wednesday’s finale drew the largest crowd, 8,663.
UP NEXT
Diamondbacks: Return home from a six-game trip to begin a four-game set with Atlanta, with RHP Luke Weaver (3-1, 3.29 ERA) facing Braves RHP Mike Soroka (3-1, 1.14) on Thursday.
Rays: Off Thursday before hosting a weekend series against the second-place New York Yankees.
