Rays 8, Dodgers 7 11 innings
Record: 90-63
Attendance: 48,253. Dodger Stadium
The Oakland Athletics pulled off a walk-off 1-0 win in the 11th inning against the weak Kansas City Royals. The Cleveland Indians won a 2-1 walk-off in the tenth against the even weaker Detroit Tigers. Keeping pace against the NL best L.A. Dodgers was going to be tough--and the Rays knew it going in.
Manager Kevin Cash played this one like the last game of the World Series--all hands on deck. Twenty-two hitters and pitchers found their way to the plate in this 4:40 marathon that began at 8:10 Eastern Time and didn't end till 12:50. He also paraded nine pitchers to the mound--as did the Dodgers. The game had no meaning for the Dodgers, unlike the Rays, who had a lot riding on the outcome, but the Dodgers played a ferocious game, getting key hits, rallying from deficits, and never conceding anything. Winning this one, in L.A., against an inspired team, in front of some 48,000 very involved fans, would be the perhaps the greatest challenge of the season for the 90-63 Rays.
The Rays fell behind 5-4 in the sixth on a Joc Pederson RBI single and a passed ball. Cody Bellinger's 45th homer in the eighth made it 6-4, but in the top of the ninth, the Rays tied it at 6 on a Ji-Man Choi single and a clutch sac fly by Travis d'Arnaud.
In the 11th, Austin Meadows picked out a breaking ball and drove it into the right field seats for his 32nd home run of the season. Tommy Pham followed that with a double to left, his fifth hit of the night. He went to third on a ground out and came home on Choi's sac fly. Rays up, 8-6. But the proud and tough Dodgers mounted a rally of their own in the bottom of the inning against Pete Fairbanks, who lost Tuesday's game.
Corey Seager singled and Will Smith put a high fly near the foul line in right. Avisail Garcia had a long run, but he caught up to the ball--and dropped it. After two outs were recorded, Edwin Rios singled to center driving in Seager. With runners on first and second, and the Rays leading by a single run, Dodger manager Dave Roberts called on backup catcher Russell Martin to pinch hit. This time Fairbanks was up to the task, getting Martin to swing and miss on a 3-2 count.
Colin Poche got the win (5-5) and Fairbanks got his second save.
In many ways the Rays pulled off a miracle in Dodger Stadium, one they can savor on their Thursday off day and build on for the upcoming four-game series against the Red Sox in St. Pete. If you can't feel the momentum swinging toward the Rays at this point, it's time to get a new antenna.
Tommy Pham wrapped it up for the press after the game: "We had a ton of fight in us tonight."
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