Jose Siri hit a go-ahead two-run homer, Jeffrey Springs pitched five scoreless innings, and the Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Seattle Mariners 3-2 on Tuesday night.
Manuel Rodríguez gave up a two-out single before striking out pinch hitter Luke Raley for his second save of the season, helping the Rays even their record at 66-66 for the 32nd time this season, which is the most in the major leagues.
Siri’s seventh-inning homer came with an 0-2 count and two outs. He hit a slider from JT Chargois (2-1) over the center field wall. Out of Siri’s 17 home runs this season, five have been tying or go-ahead hits.
“That was a huge hit in the moment,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said.
After Seattle’s starter Logan Gilbert pitched six excellent innings, the Rays capitalized on the Mariners’ bullpen with Siri’s homer and Yandy Díaz’s solo home run in the eighth inning.
“It seems like we play a lot of games against this club that come down to the seventh, eighth and ninth inning,” Cash said. “So, every add-on run is big.”
Springs allowed no runs on one hit, two walks, and had a season-high nine strikeouts. He pitched five innings on 79 pitches as the Rays continue to gradually increase his workload following Tommy John surgery in April 2023.
It was his best performance of the season. He did not allow a hit until the fourth inning, when former teammate Randy Arozarena hit a two-out single to right field.
“Definitely felt a lot better than the last one in Oakland,” Springs said. “Feel like I was able to locate my fastball early to both sides and everything works off that for me.”
Gilbert bounced back against the Rays after a rough outing in his previous game, where he allowed eight runs against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The 27-year-old threw six scoreless innings on 97 pitches with a season-high 10 strikeouts. He retired the first 11 batters he faced before allowing an infield single to Josh Lowe in the fourth inning.
