Diego Castillo got out of a bases-loaded jam./JEFFREY S. KING
Saturday, 4 a.m.
The moment was intended as a Hollywood script. The hero that the franchise threw away was walking toward the plate with an opportunity to tie the score. Once again, it looked like an Evan Longoria moment.
The Rays led 5-2 at the moment, but two runners were on base for a San Francisco team that looked as if it had awakened after slumbering for most of the day. Wasn't Longoria -- Mr. Ray -- made for moments such as these? Forget that. he was 0-for-4 on the day. Throughout his career, hadn't he owned the ninth inning?
And in the opposite dugout, Kevin Cash looked on.
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Glasnow had another impressive start./JEFFREY S. KING
"Let’s not have a fitting story," said Cash, no fan of dramatics. "I was going down the line-up and thinking 'if he doesn’t get up, he’s going to be on deck. He had a good swing."
Alas,Longoria is 33 now. And on the fourth pitch he saw, he hit a routine fly ball to right field.
Game over.
It was a tense ending to a one-sided game for the Rays. Tampa Bay had taken a 5-0 lead, four of the runs coming in the first as Yandy Diaz and Kevin Kiermaier hit back-to-back home runs. All five of the Rays runs came with two out.
But in the seventh, the Giants scored twice. They loaded the bases in the eighth with no one out before Diego Castillo induced a double-play ball. They got the first two runners of the ninth on.
Still, the Rays held on despite their dicey finish. They are now 6-2 on the season.
Tyler Glasnow, who had a dreadful spring training, was impressive on the mound once again. He threw six scoreless innings and allowed just three hits. In 11 innings this year, he has allowed one earned run.
"Tyler was awesome to watch," Cash said. "He filled up the strike zone…able to land this curveball early. It was a good game."
The Rays play against the Giants again today at 4:05 p.m. Opener Ryne Stanek will pitch against Jeff Samardzija,
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