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Wednesday, 4 a.m.
It had been forever since he had made a contribution. It had been an eternity since his bat made a little noise.
Yet, there he was, in the bottom of the eighth inning with the bases loaded, and Osleivis Basabe had nowhere to turn.
He hadn’t done much in Tuesday night’s game against the Los Angeles Angels. Heck, he hadn’t done much for a very, very long time. Basabe was hitting 0.81 (three for his last 37 at bats) as he stood in. He quickly fell behind 0-2.
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But Basabe drilled a two-run double on the next pitch, giving the Rays the lead. And when Rene Pinto hit another 0-2 pitch for a two-run single, it led the Rays to a 6-2 victory.
At the time, it seemed the Rays were on their way to wasting another quick start. The Rays took a 2-0 lead five pitches into the game when Yandy Diaz doubled and Randy Arozarena homered for the 23rd time. But the Rays offense went into a deep sleep after that. The Rays were one-for-eight with runners in scoring position until Basabe’s at-bat.
The Angels, who have lost six straight, tied the game on solo home runs by Logan O’Hoppe and Zach Neto.
Taj Bradley started and went five innings and gave up one run. Robert Stephenson gave up a homer, but he got the victory.
The Rays and Angels play again tonight at 6:40 p.m. Aaron Civale will start for the Rays. The Angels have not announced a starter.