Dylan Carlson hit an RBI single in the 12th inning, leading the Tampa Bay Rays to an 8-7 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday, completing a three-game sweep after nearly squandering a six-run lead.
Jonny DeLuca started the 12th with a sacrifice bunt against Justin Martinez (5-4), moving automatic runner Alex Jackson from second to third base. Taylor Walls walked, and Carlson’s single to left field secured the win.
Martinez managed to escape a bases-loaded, no-out situation in the 11th inning. Arizona went hitless for six innings before making a comeback.
“It was an exciting game, you could say,” Carlson said. “There were a lot of good things done in the game. A lot of contributions from a lot of guys.” Edwin Uceta (1-0) struck out two batters in a scoreless inning to earn his first major league win.
Walls and Joc Pederson each had a run-scoring single in the 10th inning.
Tampa Bay’s Drew Rasmussen and Tyler Alexander lost their no-hit bid in the seventh inning when Corbin Carroll hit a single that Walls nearly caught barehanded.
Rasmussen pitched two perfect innings as the opener before Alexander gave up three runs and five hits over 5 2/3 innings.
Carroll hit a two-run homer in the eighth to cut Arizona’s deficit to 6-3. Adrian Del Castillo then tied the game with a three-run homer off closer Pete Fairbanks in the ninth inning.
“There’s some really good moments, and some really identifiable moments where we’ve got to improve,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. “We really fought hard. There’s no quit in this team. They’re hungry, and that’s what I’m going to focus on.”
Fairbanks, who also blew a save on Friday, left the game with a lat strain with two outs in the ninth and will be placed on the injured list.
Arizona’s Ketel Marte aggravated his sprained left ankle on a check-swing as a pinch hitter in the ninth inning and needed help to walk off the field. He was the designated hitter on Saturday after missing three games due to the injury.
Lovullo had no new information on Marte besides that he was being checked.
“It didn’t look great,” Lovullo said. “We need to probably re-evaluate and find out how quickly we can get him back.”
Two other key players for Arizona, first baseman Christian Walker (strained left oblique) and catcher Gabriel Moreno (strained left adductor), are also on the injured list.
The Diamondbacks have lost three games in a row for the first time since June 26-28. They are still 30-13 since then and currently hold an NL wild-card spot.
Brandon Lowe put the Rays ahead 2-0 in the third inning with a two-run homer off Merrill Kelly. José Caballero added two runs with a double in a three-run fifth inning that made it 5-0.
“A lot of ups and downs,” Lowe said. “A lot of backs and forth just when you thought the game was done.”
Kelly allowed six runs and eight hits over five-plus innings in his second start since returning from a strained right shoulder.
Rays first baseman Yandy Díaz left the game with a bruised left forearm after being hit by a pitch from Kelly in the first inning.
Díaz, through a translator, said he is sore and considers himself day-to-day. X-rays were negative.
Tampa Bay center fielder Jose Siri didn’t start for the third straight game after not running hard on a grounder Wednesday, but he came in as a pinch hitter in the ninth inning. Rays manager Kevin Cash said before the game that Siri will start Monday night at Oakland.
Siri declined to speak with reporters before Sunday’s game.
