Tampa Bay’s Nick Martinez continued his amazing start with seven quality innings, and the Rays rallied with seven runs in the seventh inning to stop a season-long four-game losing streak in an 8-5 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Friday night in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Martinez (5-1) extended his streak of allowing two runs or fewer to 11 consecutive starts to open 2026 by yielding two on eight hits over seven innings. He fanned five with no walks.
Yandy Diaz homered twice, and Jonathan Aranda went deep. Junior Caminero had two hits, while Richie Palacios drove in two with a triple.
The Angels’ Vaughn Grissom (two RBIs, run) and Zach Neto (two runs, RBI, walk) each had two hits and a double. Oswald Peraza and Jose Siri notched two hits.
In his first game in two years, third baseman Nick Madrigal went 2-for-4.
Walbert Urena fired six strong innings, allowing one run on five hits. He struck out five and walked three.
Diaz sliced the second pitch from Urena to right field for a 1-0 lead. The opposite-field homer was his second leading off a game for the Rays this season.
After Neto’s one-out double, Grissom slashed an RBI single to left with two outs to tie it.
Los Angeles took the lead in the fifth when Neto followed Siri’s leadoff double with a single over a drawn-in infield.
The Angels turned a double play to finish the fourth with a runner at second, and left fielder Wade Meckler made a half-sliding catch to end the sixth after appearing to lose Nick Fortes’ liner in the lights with a runner in scoring position.
However, the home side’s bats came alive as it sent 10 batters up in the seventh.
The second batter to face reliever Ryan Zeferjahn (2-3), Diaz teed off with his second homer after Cedric Mullins’ walk. Diaz’s 10th blast was a majestic 400-footer to left for a 3-2 lead. Aranda then went back-to-back with a 410-foot rocket to right-center.
Oliver Dunn’s RBI bunt single, Palacios’ two-run triple and Fortes’ run-scoring sacrifice bunt rounded out the seven-run inning.
RBIs from Grissom, Jo Adell and Meckler trimmed it to 8-5 in the eighth, but closer Bryan Baker got a popout to first baseman Aranda from Grissom with the bases loaded for his 15th save in the ninth.
–Field Level Media
