Runs In The Rain: Rays Split Series In Atlanta
The Tampa Bay Rays endured a pair of rain delays that lasted nearly two hours, and saw Tommy Pham and C.J. Cron each homered to help salvage a split of the two-game series with the Atlanta Braves, taking the finale by an 8-5 score.
Slugfest Starts After First Delay
The start of Wednesday's contest was delayed by 41 minutes due to rain, and when it started, both teams took advantage of two-out rallies. Tampa Bay's started when Sean Newcomb walked Matt Duffy. Cron followed with a double and Joey Wendle made it 2-0 with a base hit. He took second on a poor throw to the plate by Ender Inciarte, and scored on a hit-and-run single with Carlos Gomez.
Atlanta got two-out singles off Diego Castillo by both Freddie Freeman and Nick Markakis before Johan Camargo took a 99 MPH fastball and sent it into the home bullpen to tie the game up.
Cron untied the game in the third with a solo blast off Newcomb, his 25th of the season.
Pham extended the lead an inning later with a two-run blast off Newcomb, his second as a member of the Rays
The Rays added two more runs in the fifth, the first on a throwing error by Luke Jackson on a Kevin Kiermaier bunt, followed by a Jesus Sucre safety squeeze.
Castillo calmed down after his first inning and put up a scoreless second, and Jalen Beeks (4-1) threw three scoreless innings before the rains came for a second time.
The game was halted the second time for over an hour, and Tampa Bay used Chaz Roe to get through the sixth and Adam Kolarek to put up a scoreless seventh. Atlanta struck for two runs in the ninth off Andrew Kittredge thanks to a pinch-hit RBI single by Charlie Culberson and a run-scoring base hit by Ronald Acuna Jr., but Jose Alvarado was able to get Inciarte to ground out to end the eighth, and worked a perfect ninth to notch his sixth save.
Friday's Matchup
Tampa Bay Rays (71-62) at Cleveland Indians (75-57), 7:10 p.m. first pitch, with coverage on WDAE beginning at 6:00 with The Inside Pitch presented by Crown Eurocars.
Rays starter - RHP Tyler Glasnow (1-3, 4.18 ERA)
Indians starter - RHP Corey Kluber (16-7, 2.91 ERA)