Give up a grand slam, hit into a triple play ... and win? Rays did it

ANAHEIM -- The Rays did a couple of things that very easily could have cost them Friday night’s series opener at Angel Stadium.

In the second inning, Erasmo Ramírez served up Shohei Ohtani’s second career grand slam to put Tampa Bay in a four-run hole. With the game tied in the ninth, Harold Ramírez hit into the fourth triple play in franchise history.

But they did enough to win in spite of all that.

They slowly climbed out of the hole Ohtani put them in. They quickly brushed off the deflating triple play thanks to run-scoring hits by Luke Raley, Josh Lowe and René Pinto in the 10th inning. Then they turned to Andrew Kittredge, who recorded a save in his first Major League appearance in 438 days, to seal their hard-fought, 9-6 win over the Angels.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Rays became only the second team in AL/NL history to allow a grand slam, hit into a triple play and win the game. Cleveland also accomplished that unusual feat against Toronto on Sept. 7, 1979.

“We don't quit,” said Raley, who salvaged a four-strikeout day with the go-ahead single off Carlos Estévez in the 10th inning. “That's one thing that is really nice about this clubhouse is it's a bunch of guys that want to win every day and guys that are going to go out there and do everything they can to win, regardless of the situation.”

And this was a pretty odd situation. The two clubs traded runs in the first inning then went back and forth all night.

The Angels loaded the bases in the second against Ramírez, who got the start on a bullpen day, and brought Ohtani to the plate. The two-way superstar had only hit one grand slam in his Major League career before Friday night: also against the Rays, also at Angel Stadium, on May 9, 2022.

He repeated the feat against Ramírez, launching his 43rd home run of the season out to right field to make it a 5-1 game.

“Probably, you’re not supposed to win that game after you give up the home run to Ohtani to knock in four runs,” manager Kevin Cash said.

They did anyway.

The Rays rallied back with three runs in the fourth on a two-run double by Lowe and an RBI single by Pinto then tied it on a double to left off the red-hot bat of Ramírez.

Ramírez briefly gave the Rays a lead in the seventh, too, bouncing a two-strike slider from Reynaldo López back up the middle for the go-ahead single. But the Angels answered immediately with Brandon Drury’s two-out RBI double off Jason Adam.

The Rays were set up well to win it in the ninth, with runners on the corners and Ramírez at the plate, but the Angels turned a 6-4-3-2 triple play to keep Tampa Bay off the board. Randy Arozarena was forced out at second, then Ramírez at first, then Nolan Schanuel fired the ball to catcher Logan O’Hoppe, who tagged out Yandy Díaz at the plate.

It was the fourth time in franchise history the Rays hit into a triple play, having most recently done so on April 17, 2014, and the Angels’ first triple play since July 5, 1997.

“I am in the history [book], then,” said Ramírez, smiling. “That's part of the game. I don't want to do that, but that happened.”

Added Raley: “They did everything right on that play, so the mood was to go out and not let them score and have a chance to win it in the 10th.”

Indeed, the Rays shook off that frustrating finish in extra innings. Jose Siri advanced to third base on a wild pitch, and Isaac Paredes was hit in the hand by another errant offering from Estévez. Raley delivered the go-ahead single to right, then Lowe and Pinto tacked on RBI singles to make it a three-run game.

Having already used most of their bullpen, including their top high-leverage relievers, the Rays handed their three-run lead to Kittredge, who was reinstated from the 60-day injured list on Thursday after completing his recovery from Tommy John surgery.

It had been 14 1/2 months since he faced the Cardinals on June 7, 2022. Sixty-two weeks and change. One major elbow surgery followed by one long, up-and-down recovery process.

Naturally, the 2021 All-Star found himself in a big spot in his return to the big league mound. And naturally, he delivered, retiring all three batters and securing his first save since May 15, 2022.

“Didn’t imagine that that was the situation I was going to get thrown into,” he said, smiling through his bushy beard, “but happy to come away with a 'W.'”