Rays 6 Twins 7: This game was cursed

All season long I’ve been writing recaps that are more or less like this: the Rays pitching was [good/adequate] but you’re not going to win if your offense can’t score!

So tonight, the Rays actually manage to get some runs on the board, but their pitchers couldn’t hold off the Twins.

While the Rays had managed to score in the first inning of all three games in Atlanta (while winning just one), they tried something different this time: scoring MULTIPLE runs in the first inning. Brandon Lowe singled and Isaac Paredes walked, setting up the increasingly hot Mr. Arozarena for the three-run bomb to give them the early lead.

They tacked on a fourth run two innings later, with an assist to the blustery wind. Diaz singled, and Paredes popped up down the third base/left field line. Several Twins fielders converged on the ball, but the ball had other ideas and swerved out of Carlos Correa’s reach for a single. Josh Lowe then singled home the run for a 4-0 lead.

Meanwhile Aaron Civale held the Twins scoreless through three innings, but I wouldn’t say he did it easily. He gave up hits to the lead off runner each inning (doubles in the first two, a single in the third). He did have four strikeouts in three innings, but also a lot of deep counts and long at-bats which elevated his pitch count. It looked like he was following the same pattern in the fourth inning, but with two outs gave up a single, a walk and a double which produced three Minnesota runs, and then a ground rule double relinquished the lead. All with two outs! Several batters with two strikes! Truly one of the most frustrating innings of pitching I’ve seen, and I guess Kevin Cash agreed because he decided he wasn’t going to wait to see if Civale could get that last out, and he brought in Kevin Kelly.

The Rays retook the lead quickly, with Brandon Lowe providing the solo homerun to lead off the fifth, but the weather gods had other ideas, deluging the field just a minute later, and the game was delayed for a bit over two hours.

Game take two: after a lengthy rain delay, the Rays resumed hitting, and Josh Lowe gave the Rays a two run lead with his own solo home run. Shawn Armstrong took over the pitching the next inning, and the lead was quickly gone. He gave up a home run to Max Kepler, and then a combination of a walk, a single and a sacrifice fly tied the game.

That’s where things stood, and I was contemplating the misery of going into extra innings after a long rain delay. But in the bottom of the ninth Pete Fairbanks gave up a single to our friend Manny Margot. He then tried to field a comebacker to the mound, which hit his fingers. So now we have the worst of all worlds: two runners on base and Pete injured.

In came Phil Maton and, well, maybe doubling up on the curveball wasn’t the best idea. RBI single, Rays lose.