Wildcard race just got wilder.
The Tampa Bay Rays came into Wednesday night with a chance to match their longest winning streak of the season, sweep their second consecutive opponent, and a shot at climbing back into the thick of the wild-card race. Everything went right for the Rays early and mostly stayed that way through the end.
Adrian Houser set the tone when he needed only three pitches to retire Seattle Mariners’ hitters Randy Arozarena, Cal Raleigh, and Julio Rodriguez in the first inning with two flyouts and a groundout. The game barely started, and it was already the Rays’ turn to hit.
That turn came loud. With one out, Yandy Díaz doubled to right, his first of an incredible five-for-five night. Brandon Lowe followed with a single, then Junior Caminero scored Díaz with another single. Josh Lowe singled in Brandon Lowe. Jake Mangum grounded one through to left to bring Caminero home. A passed ball moved the runners up, and Hunter Feduccia’s sacrifice fly tacked on a fourth run. Eight Rays had batted by the time the inning was over, and they led 4-0 before Houser even had to break a sweat.
Houser carved through the second with a pair of strikeouts and help from Mangum’s arm, cutting down Jorge Polanco trying to stretch a single. Then the lineup piled on again.
Bob Seymour singled, Simpson singled, and Díaz singled once more to load the bases. Brandon Lowe’s sacrifice fly made it 5-0. Caminero drilled a double to center to score another. After Josh Lowe was hit by a pitch that seemed intentional by George Kirby, Feduccia added another single through the middle, pushing two more across. By the time Carson Williams went down swinging, it was 8-0. The game felt over after two innings, which probably fueled Kirby’s frustrations in the inning. I would be frustrated too if I were getting carved like a holiday Turkey when it’s barely pumpkin spice season.
Houser did not let off the gas either.He breezed through the third and fourth, including striking out Arozarena and Raleigh in succession. Eduard Bazardo and later Emerson Hancock tried to calm things down for Seattle in relief, but the Rays still added another run in the fifth when Seymour walked, Simpson and Díaz singled, and Brandon Lowe lifted his second sacrifice fly of the night to make it a 9-0 lead.
The Mariners finally got things going in the sixth. Dominic Canzone singled, J.P. Crawford walked, and Raleigh hit a line drive to score a run. Then Julio Rodríguez came up and launched a three-run homer to right. For a moment, the deficit was 9-4, and the mood shifted. Was there a rally hiding in there? Could this turn messy? Houser struck out Luke Raley to close the frame, and that was that. The spark fizzled before it could become a fire.
In the seventh inning, warnings were issued to both sides after a fastball from Houser hit Canzone. Nothing escalated further.
In the eighth inning, Houser gave way to Mason Englert, who coasted through the eighth. Seymour secured the final out on a foul pop from Rodríguez in the ninth, sealing the series sweep.Now the Rays turn the page quickly. They open a series against the Cleveland Guardians tomorrow, looking to keep the streak and postseason dreams alive with Ryan Pepiot scheduled to start.
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