The Tampa Bay Rays were sloppy Friday night, issuing seven walks, hitting a batter and committing three errors that led to five unearned runs.
But none of it mattered because an offense that has been on a roll since the middle of May stayed in recent form during a 7-5 win over the New York Mets.
That gives Tampa Bay a chance for a series win if it can take the middle contest of the three-game set on Saturday.
The Rays rapped out 13 hits Friday night to improve to 16-6 over the last 22 games. In that stretch, they’ve averaging an MLB-high 5.7 runs per game and have swiped 36 bases, more than any team in MLB.
They’ve also belted 33 homers in that stretch. It was the long ball that punctuated a six-run sixth inning as Danny Jansen launched a two-run homer to give Tampa Bay the lead for good.
“It goes a long way when you put balls in play and put pressure on the defense,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “Good teams do that, right? You have to do a lot of things right to beat that team over there.”
Tampa Bay also got three hits, including a solo homer in the fourth inning, from first baseman Jonathan Aranda. That upped his average to a team-high .322, helping him bolster his growing credentials for a spot in next month’s All-Star Game.
The Rays will shoot for a series victory behind their best starter in right-hander Drew Rasmussen (5-4, 2.22 ERA). He last pitched on Sunday, working the first six innings of his team’s 3-2 win over Miami and allowing two runs off six hits and a walk with three strikeouts. This will be Rasmussen’s first career outing against New York.
As for the Mets, they’ll turn to Tylor Megill (5-4, 3.76). He cruised to a 13-5 win on Sunday at Colorado in his last start, giving up two runs on three hits over five innings while walking three and fanning five. Megill’s only career start against Tampa Bay was a win as he permitted two runs in six innings.
New York experienced something relatively rare in the series opener — a home loss. It was 27-7 at Citi Field coming into the game and had won six straight. It looked good for a seventh consecutive victory when Clay Holmes handed a 5-1 lead to the bullpen in the sixth.
But Paul Blackburn, who will move into the starting rotation Wednesday in Atlanta in place of the injured Kodai Senga, and Max Kranick gave it up in Tampa Bay’s big inning. Manager Carlos Mendoza wanted to get Blackburn work with Holmes at 79 pitches, near his pitch count of 85.
“We knew it was a good chance for him to pitch today,” Mendoza said of Blackburn. “And once we (were) up there, it was the right time to get him in the game. If we didn’t pitch him today, then tomorrow was a must.
“So with us getting a four-run lead there, I thought that was the right opportunity. Just didn’t go our way.”
–Field Level Media
