Thursday, 4 a.m.
You could smell the disaster from here.
The Tampa Bay Rays were giving away bases, and to all the world, it felt like trouble. A walk here. A hit batter there. An error over there.
It was the ninth inning, and the Rays had a tenuous grip on the lead. They were in danger, with the bases loaded and only one out. The tying run was on third. The winning run was on second.
And Jalen Beeks calmed the waters.
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Beeks, a reliever who has had an up-and-down season for the Rays, came on to hold the lead. He struck out Miles Mastrobuoni on a full-count for the second out. After going 3-0 to Yan Gomes, he induced a sharp liner to Randy Arozarena in left on another full count pitch.
It wasn't dominant. But sometimes effective is good enough.
The 4-3 victory allowed the Rays to leave Chicago with a win after losses of 1-0 and 2-1. Once again, the Rays didn't hit a lot (five hits), but they got a two-run homer from Brandon Lowe in the seventh and a two-run homer from Jose Siri in the eighth two get the win.
"It was a high-leverage moment for us," Rays' manager Kevin Cash said.
The Cubs, the last-place team in the NL Central, gave the Rays fits for three days, allowing only one run in the first 24 innings. The Rays had just one hit through five innings on Wednesday.
Tampa Bay is off today, then starts a series with the Boston Red Sox on Friday at Fenway Park at 7:10 p.m.