Tuesday night’s game looked all too familiar for the Tampa Bay Rays this season. The Rays jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the 1st inning, but then Matt Andriese couldn’t make it out of the 5th inning and the lead would eventually fully evaporate in the 8th inning when Salvador Perez scored to tie the game at 6. Neither team could score in the 9th and we headed to extra innings. Mike Moustakas homered off of Diego Moreno in the 12th to take the lead and the 2nd game of the series 7-6.
Andriese had to get an extra out in the 1st inning after Lorenzo Cain got to 1st base after a passed ball. Andriese got the very next batter to strikeout to end the inning and then got some instant offensive support. Evan Longoria singled with 2 outs and then Logan Morrison drove himself and Longo home with a shot to right field for his 8th HR of the year. The 2-out rally would continue as Tim Beckham drove home Rickie Weeks with a single and then Kevin Kiermaier singled to drive home Colby Rasmus to make it 4 runs in the 1st.
The Royals started to come back a bit in the 3rd. Jorge Bonifacio got to 3rd to lead off the inning after a base hit and an error on Kiermaier. He then scored on an Andriese balk. Kevin Cash came out to argue the call and ended up getting ejected from the game.
Andriese got in a little bit of trouble to start the 4th inning, but gathered himself and struck out the next 3 batters to maintain the 3-run lead. The Rays then were able to extend the lead back to 4 in the 5th. Rasmus doubled and was driven home by Tim Beckham to make it 5-1.
Andriese’s exit came in the next half inning. Salvador Perez sent a bomb shot to left field to cut the lead in half and made it 5-3. Andriese ended up going 5 ⅓ innings allowing 5 hits and 2 earned runs. He struck out 7. Erasmo Ramirez came in to relieve Andriese and got the next 2 Royals batters to end the inning. The Rays hitters came up big in the bottom of the 6th to get a little more breathing room. Brad Miller homered to right field for his 2nd of the year and make it 6-3.
Ramirez allowed a leadoff double to start the 7th to Brandon Moss and then was taken out of the game for Danny Farquhar. Farquhar inherited runners at 2nd and 3rd with only 1 out. Moss scored on a Mike Moustakas groundout to make it 6-4. Farquhar then walked Lorenzo Cain and allowed an RBI base hit to Eric Hosmer that cut the lead to just a run. Jesus Sucre made a fantastic defensive play to pick off Hosmer at 1st and end the Royals’ threat.
The lead would fully evaporate in the top of the 8th. Perez led off the inning with a ground rule double and then was driven home by an Alex Gordon single to tie the game.
The Rays couldn’t regain their lead in the bottom of the 8th or 9th and we headed to extra innings. A Moustakas' homerun in the 12th inning would be the nail in the coffin for the Rays in a 7-6 loss.
The Rays will be back in action tomorrow for the 3rd game in this 4 game set against the Royals. Chris Archer (2-1, 3.57) will head to the mound for the Rays to oppose Jason Hammel (1-3, 5.53). 1st pitch is once again scheduled for 7:10 with pregame coverage beginning right at 6 with Steve Carney and the Inside Pitch on WDAE.