Rays 4, Marlins 3: Fish vs. Fish on a Friday

This one got a little close for comfort.

In a very citrus-infused weekend series, and with a very unusual start time for a Friday game, the Rays invited the Marlins to town. Edward Cabrera was on the mound for the Marlins, while Zack Littell got the nod for the Rays. It was a blistering hot day in the Florida sun, and certainly everyone was hoping to power through this one. Though, as Drew Rasmussen observed, “We’re getting used to it.”

The Marlins went 1-2-3 in the top of the first. In the home half, Brandon Lowe took a one-out walk, then Junior Caminero doubled, to put two men in scoring position. Jonathan Aranda singled, bringing Lowe home and putting the Rays on the board first. A wild pitch advanced Aranda to second but the Rays would need to settle for the one run.

Liam Hicks got a one-out single for the Marlins in the second, then Eric Wagaman singled right behind him. However two outs followed to leave those fish beached. In the home half Curtis Mead got a one-out single, and then stole second on a Taylor Walls strikeout, but no runs scored.

Dane Myers kicked off the third with a double. After a groundout by Xavier Edwards a bit of a verbal tussle broke out between Marlins manager Clayton McCullough and umpire Chad Fairchild, who ejected McCullough. Xavier Edwards was also ejected. Two slightly more traditional outs followed to end the inning.

In the home half, Brandon Lowe reached on a fielding error. Junior Caminero then doubled. An Aranda groundout scored Lowe. Right after that Jake Mangum grounded out, scoring Caminero, bumping the Rays’ lead to 3-0.

In the top of the fourth the Marlins got one back with a leadoff home run by Agustin Ramirez. Three outs followed, but the Rays were going to need to watch their lead. In the bottom of the inning Matt Thaiss got a leadoff single for Tampa Bay, then Mead followed behind him with a single. Taylor Walls grounded into a force out that eliminated Mead, but then Jose Lowe walked to load the bases. It might have been the best opportunity for the Rays to break things open, but they ended up leaving them all stranded.

Dane Myers got a one-out single in the top of the fifth, but then eliminated himself by trying to steal second. Anthony Veneziano came out of the Marlins’ pen in the bottom of the fifth. With two outs, Jose Caballero walked, then successfully stole second. However, he was unable to score.

With two outs in the top of the sixth, Ramirez singled. Thankfully, the Marlins didn’t get him any closer to home as they finished the inning scoreless. George Soriano was the next Marlins’ reliever out. With one out, Taylor Walls got a ground-rule double, but two outs followed.

Manuel Rodríguez replaced Littell after six innings and a very nice outing by Littell. Eric Wagaman got a leadoff single, but was eliminated in a force out off the bat of Heriberto Hernandez. Two more outs followed to once again leave the runner stranded. In the home half, Aranda got a one-out single, then Mangum singled. Thaiss singled to score Aranda. Mangum was tagged out trying to score, and ended the inning.

Edwin Uceta came out of the Rays’ pen, and gave up a double to Javier Sanoja. Then, with one out, Otto Lopez homered, and suddenly this was back to a one-run game. Agustin Ramirez then singled. Uceta was out at that point, making way for Garrett Cleavinger. A foul pop-up to Thaiss eliminated one more runner. A base hit to Wagaman put two men on and amped up the pressure. Cleavinger was finally able to pitch out of the jam, but the Rays were going to have a much narrower lead to protect. Tyler Phillips was out for the Marlins in the eighth. With one out, Taylor Walls placed a perfect bunt to get to first, only to then be eliminated in a double play.

Pete Fairbanks was in for the ninth, hoping to hang on for the save. For the final out of the inning an almost single was laced to left field past Caminero, but Walls was right there and snagged it out of the air to end the game. A really nice play.

Final: Rays 4, Marlins 3