ST. PETERSBURG (WDAE) -- Eric Sogard homered twice and drove in five, but it was Willy Adames' solo shot in the bottom of the eighth that broke a 6-6 tie, giving the Tampa Bay Rays their fifth straight win with a 8-6 victory over the Miami Marlins Saturday at Tropicana Field.
The back-and-forth nature of Saturday's game began in the second inning, as Jalen Beeks, who took over for Diego Castillo, who opened the game, gave up an unearned run because of a defensive miscue as Willy Adames failed to step on second base while trying to turn a double play. Miami loaded the bases with one out and Beeks hit Cesar Puello with a pitch to force in a run.
Tampa Bay immediately countered as Avisail Garcia began the inning by drawing a walk, and Sogard followed up with a blast into the right field seats for his first home run as a member of the Rays, and his 11th of the year overall.
Miami immediately took the lead back in the third, tying the game on a sacrifice fly by Garrett Cooper and breaking the tie with a two-run homer off Beeks by Starlin Castro. But again Elieser Hernandez could not get a shutdown inning, walking Austin Meadows and Travis d'Arnaud before Sogard came up three batters later and blasted his second home run in as many innings to put the Rays back ahead 5-4.
Miami would regain the lead one final time in the seventh, with an RBI single by Jon Berti tying the game, and a sacrifice fly by Brian Anderson giving the Marlins a 6-5 advantage. However, Austin meadows tied the game in the bottom of the seventh with a solo home run, his 18th of the year. Willy Adames broke the tie leading off the eighth against Jarlin Garcia, and Travis d'Arnaud gave Tampa Bay some breathing room with an RBI single that scored Ji-Man Choi to set the score at 8-6.
Nick Anderson worked a perfect eighth inning to earn his first win with the Rays and third overall this year, and Emilio Pagan allowed a two-out triple to Jon Berti, but stranded him 90 feet from scoring to earn his ninth save.
The win ensures Tampa Bay remains in the second wild card ahead of the Oakland A's.
SUNDAY'S MATCHUP
Tampa Bay Rays (64-48) vs. Miami Marlins (42-66), 1:10 pm first pitch, with coverage on WDAE starting at 11:00 am with The Inside Pitch.
Rays starter: RHP Yonny Chirinos (8-5, 3.70 ERA)
Marlins starter: LHP Caleb Smith (7-4, 3.43 ERA)