Everything goes south in Rays' rocky fourth

ATLANTA -- The fourth inning Saturday night at Truist Park had a little bit of everything -- a misplay in the field, a replay review, a sound strategic decision that backfired, a rare hit by a pitcher and an even rarer home run.

All of it went against left-hander Josh Fleming and the Rays as the Braves piled on six runs in the 23-pitch inning. That quickly, what had been a pitchers’ duel turned into an easy 9-0 win for Atlanta, one that ended with Tampa Bay catcher Francisco Mejía pitching for the first time in his life and the Rays being shut out for the fourth time this season.

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“They just pieced together a really, really big inning that is tough to come back from,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said.

Fleming allowed seven runs in 4 1/3 innings, attributing most of his struggles the second time through the order to inconsistency with his sinker. The lefty hasn’t allowed an earned run in each of his last three relief outings when pitching after an opener, but he has yielded a combined 17 runs in 17 2/3 innings over his last three starts.

“I think there comes a point where it's very possible to throw too many strikes, and my last three starts, I think I've thrown too many strikes,” Fleming said. “So [I've] got to get better at locating a little bit more -- and just throw this one behind me and move on to the next.”

Still, Fleming seemed to be in command early on. He and Braves lefty Max Fried traded zeroes for 3 1/2 innings, each allowing two hits and nothing more during that time. Mejía noted that Fleming’s bread-and-butter sinker seemed to have its usual movement at the beginning of the game, but that changed in his final few innings -- and the Braves capitalized.

Freddie Freeman singled on the first pitch of the fourth inning and scored when Ozzie Albies golfed a low changeup -- below-the-strike-zone low, really -- deep to center field for an RBI double.

“Honestly, when he hit it, I was like, 'Oh, it's going to be a flyout to center,' and it just kept going and going,” Fleming said. “I thought that ball was an inch from the dirt, so I guess next time, throw it an inch lower so it does hit the dirt. Good piece of hitting.”

While trying to retrieve Albies’ hit after it bounced high off the wall, Rays center fielder Brett Phillips booted it farther away from the warning track. That allowed Albies to reach third base and score on Austin Riley’s subsequent sacrifice fly to left field. Fleming then retired Orlando Arcia for the second out, but the Braves weren’t done.

Former Ray Guillermo Heredia hit a line drive down the right-field line that Ji-Man Choi immediately signaled to be a foul ball. Tampa Bay challenged the ruling of a ground-rule double, but the call was upheld and the inning continued. With two outs, first base open and the pitcher on deck, Cash understandably elected to intentionally walk catcher Kevan Smith, another former Ray.

But Fried made the Rays pay, smacking a two-run double to left field. That was only one part of his overall excellent night. Fried recorded a career-high three hits -- one fewer than he allowed on the mound -- while striking out seven, walking only one and cruising through seven scoreless innings on 96 pitches. The Rays didn’t advance a runner to second base until there were two outs in the ninth inning.

“He had a pretty good day all around, at the plate and off the mound,” Cash said of Fried. “That was impressive.”

Fried’s second hit of the game brought up Joc Pederson, traded from the Cubs to the Braves on Thursday night, then thrust into the leadoff spot against Fleming on Saturday. The left-handed-hitting Pederson’s designation as a platoon hitter came with good reason: He had not hit a home run against a left-handed pitcher since Sept. 17, 2018, when he took the Rockies’ Harrison Musgrave deep to right field at Dodger Stadium.

Pederson took one cutter for a ball from Fleming, then launched a low, 90.5-mph sinker out to right-center field to cap the Braves’ six-run explosion. Freeman led off the fifth with a solo homer to center, his 21st of the season, on another misplaced sinker from Fleming.

“Every other pitch I felt good throwing,” he said. “For some reason, the sinker just -- I don't know if it wasn't sinking. I don't know. Just was inconsistent with it.”

Reliever J.P. Feyereisen allowed two runs in the sixth inning, and lefty Jeffrey Springs handled the seventh. Rather than burn through more relievers two days into a 10-game stretch without an off-day, Cash moved Mejía from behind the plate to the mound to pitch the eighth inning.

Mejía said he had never pitched before at any level, not even growing up, but he lobbed seven pitches to catcher Mike Zunino to get through a scoreless inning and save the bullpen for another day.

“The manager came up to me and asked if I have ever pitched, and I said no but I’ll be willing to pitch,” Mejía said through interpreter Manny Navarro. “I told him I could throw strikes, so I went up there and threw strikes.”