Saturday, 4 a.m.
When it was over, when the highlights had finally stopped, the Tampa Bay Rays were left with one thought Friday night.
They think they won.
Didn’t they?
The Rays survived a fistful of uncommon plays to somehow beat the Los Angeles Angels, 9-6. It was a memorable win in the way the Rays kept overcoming memorable plays by the Angels.
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For instance:
The Rays gave up a grand slam…and won.
They hit into a triple play in the ninth inning…and won.
They lost three umpire challenges (they challenged two different plays on their first).
They fell behind by four runs…and won.
Still, this is a hard team to knock out. The Rays won their 74th game to keep pace with Baltimore. And, yeah, they had some moments too. None of them were as big as a grand slam or a triple play, but the Rays can always say they helped their team win.
— Harold Ramirez had three hits and two RBI (although he hit into the triple play).
— When Luke Raley came up in the 10th inning after striking out four times, his average had fallen to .143 in the month of August. But Raley singled to right field to knock in the eventual winning run.
— Josh Lowe then singled up the middle for his third RBI of the night to give the team a two-run lead. Rene Pinto then singled in the ninth run.
— Pete Fairbanks struck out Shohei Ohtani in the bottom of the ninth inning. Ohtani had hit the grand slam in the second, his 43rd homer of the season.
— Andrew Kittredge, pitching his first game in 14 months, got the save in the 10th.
The Rays fell behind 5-1 in the second inning on Ohtani’s slam. But they came back with two in the fourth, one in the fifth and a go-ahead run in the seventh.
The Rays’ offense continued to sizzle. In the four games they have played on this road trip, they have 50 hits and 25 runs. That includes a three-hit shutout against the Giants.
Besides the three hits by Ramirez, the Rays got two from Yandy Diaz, Osleivis Basabe, Josh Lowe and Pinto.
Because of weather, the Rays and Angels will play a doubleheader today starting at 4 p.m. Tyler Glasnow and Zach Eflin will pitch for the Rays. Chase Silseth and Patrick Sandoval will throw for Anaheim.