ST. PETERSBURG — The Rays could have used some of that 2008 magic against the Chicago White Sox on Friday night.
With members of the 2008 American League Championship team looking on, Tampa Bay used gutsy pitching, some basepath daring and a little bit of luck. It just wasn’t enough as Chicago came away with a 3-2 win in extra innings on Friday night at Tropicana Field. The White Sox (39-70) took the lead in the top of the tenth against reliever Jose Alvarado on an RBI double by Yoan Moncada.
“The part you really like is how they found a way to make it interesting, get there and ultimately tie the game to get us into extra innings,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “We just came up a hair short.”
Rays opener Ryne Stanek, making his fifth start in the Rays last 10 games, came out firing, striking out the first five hitters of the ball game before being pulled in favor of reliever Adam Kolarek. It was also his fifth start of the year in which he had not allowed a hit and lowered his ERA since June to 1.52 ERA over 27 appearances.
“I felt like I was in a good good rhythm and was able to use all three of my pitches and throw them in and out of the zone,” Stanek said. “So that made it a lot ewasier on me to do what I wanted to do per each at bat.”
The Rays offense just couldn’t get anything going against Chicago’s Lucas Giolito, who finished the game allowing one earned run on two hits in 7-plus innings of work. He struck out six and walked three. Kevin Kiermaier finally gave the Rays their first base runner of the game with a single to lead off the bottom of the fourth but was promptly cut down while trying to steal second on the next batter.
“At least for me, he was kind of effectively wild,” Jake Bauers said. “He didn’t really seem to know where it was going and it was working for him.”
The Rays’ bullpen matched Giolito’s zeros until Chicago finally broke the scoreless quagmire after Jose Abreu’s two-run blast to left field off Rays reliever Jaime Schultz in the top of the sixth.
The Rays would get those back in the bottom of the eighth after Daniel Robertson led off the inning with a double and came around to score on Joey Wendle’s RBI single to center field. Robertson would leave the game with a sprained thumb incurred on the play. Wendle would put himself in scoring position by stealing second and would advance to third on a wild pitch by White Sox reliever Juan Manaya. Mallex Smith then laid down a perfectly placed suicide squeeze attempt as Wendle came barreling across the plate for the tying run.
“He works on his bunting a lot,” Cash said. “It’s nice for it to come into play and have a situation where we can get a big run at the time.”
Wendle, who finished the night 2-for-4, is batting .366 with 10 RBI since the beginning of July.
The Rays (56-54) had a chance with two outs in the bottom of the ninth after Willy Adames hit a weak grounder to the right side of the infield and was able to beat Chicago’s Luis Avilan to the bag to put the winning run aboard. Wendle, who just missed a game-winning home run on the previous pitch, looped a single to center to put Adames on third. Reliever Tyler Danish was able to get Jesus Sucre to end the inning.
Despite Friday’s loss, the Rays are 20-5 at the Trop since June 11.
Pham to 10-day DL
Newly acquired outfielder Tommy Pham will be out of commission after an MRI revealed he had a hairline fracture in a metatarsal bone in his right foot. Pham, who came to the Rays in a trade deadline deal with the Cardinals, left Thursday’s game after being hit with a pitch by Angels pitcher Andrew Heaney.
“I thought it was just like a bruise but it’s more than that,” Pham said.
Pham was 0-for-5 with a walk and two HBPs in his first two games with Tampa Bay. Although he was placed on the 10-day DL, Pham is expected to miss up to a month.
“We don’t want him to force it, because we want him to be healthy when he gets back,” Cash said.
Lefty reliever Adam Kolarek was recalled from Triple-A Durham to take his place on the roster.
On Deck
All-Star lefty Blake Snell (12-5, 2.27 ERA) will be reinstated from the 10-day DL (shoulder fatigue) to start the middle game of the series against the White Sox on Saturday at 6:10 p.m. Snell is 6-1 with a 0.87 ERA at the Trop this season, the best home mark in the majors this season. Lefty Carlos Rodon (3-3, 3.24) will take the mound for Chicago.
The Rays will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of the 2008 World Series team with special appearances from Jason Bartlett, Aki Iwamura, Scott Kazmir, James Shields and Melvin “BJ” Upton. All fans will receive a Iwamura bobblehead.
