'Big win': Rays resilient, rally for walk-off

ST. PETERSBURG -- With the bases loaded, nobody out and the game tied in the ninth inning Monday night, Yandy Díaz smacked a 99.9 mph cutter from Emmanuel Clase to the right side of the infield, ran down the first-base line, turned his head to glance behind him then pumped his fist as he trotted over the bag.

A few moments later, Díaz was being held in place by Ryan Yarbrough so Brandon Lowe could unload the contents of a cooler over his head. After a wild, back-and-forth game that saw the Rays blow a four-run lead then erase a three-run deficit, they had earned the right to celebrate.

Tampa Bay pulled off a comeback win with key at-bats by Manuel Margot, Randy Arozarena and Wander Franco before Díaz capped the rally with a fielder’s-choice chopper off Clase -- his first career walk-off RBI -- to finish the Rays’ 9-8 win over the Indians at Tropicana Field.

“You kind of got the sense it was going to be one of those games,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “When they separated and got the three-run lead, with just how good their bullpen is, we knew we had kind of an uphill climb. But give the guys a ton of credit for staying at it.”

Down by one in the ninth and facing Clase, a right-hander with a triple-digit cutter, the top of Tampa Bay’s lineup delivered one clutch at-bat after another.

“I’ve always said before -- we play until the 27th out is made,” Díaz said through interpreter Manny Navarro. “We’re the type of team that doesn’t [quit] until that moment is up.”

First, Margot legged out an infield single that got by Clase, then exited with an apparent left hamstring injury. Up came Arozarena, who took two pitches but battled with two strikes before smacking a solid single to center field. That brought up Franco, who also took a first-pitch strike and fell behind 0-2 before lining a game-tying single to the left-center-field gap.

“I think those were tremendous at-bats,” Díaz said. “I think those were the actual at-bats that got us the win.”

Cash also marveled at the maturity Franco showed in taking the first pitch from the hard-throwing Clase and his ability to shoot a 99.8 mph cutter -- stuff he probably didn’t see much of in the Minors -- to the opposite field. Even as Franco worked to find his footing in the Majors over the last two weeks, Tampa Bay insisted there was no reason to worry about the top prospect. He was hitting the ball hard, adjusting to a new level and bound for better luck. The hits would come in time.

They’re coming now, and his latest one came in a big moment.

“I feel really good, not only just because I got the hit, but because I gave the team an opportunity to win the ballgame,” Franco said through Navarro.

Cleveland intentionally walked Austin Meadows after Franco took second base on his game-tying hit, loading the bases for Díaz. Selective as ever, Díaz took three straight pitches to work a 3-0 count, forcing Clase into the strike zone. He took one cutter for a strike then slapped the next one into the ground, bouncing it to Cesar Hernandez. The Indians’ second baseman fielded the ball and rushed a throw wide of home plate, giving Arozarena plenty of time to score from third.

“I know he throws hard, so I wasn’t trying to overwhelm myself,” Díaz said. “I was just looking to make contact and stay calm in that at-bat.”

The celebration that followed was hardly calm, but then again, nothing about Monday’s game seemed to go in an orderly fashion. It was the Rays’ 24th comeback victory of the season -- second most in the Majors -- but it was very nearly the 19th time they blew a lead and lost.

Lowe launched his first career grand slam to right field off Indians starter Logan Allen in the second inning, and the Rays still held a four-run lead heading into the fifth. But after halting a Cleveland rally by recording the final out of the fourth in relief of Rich Hill, right-hander Drew Rasmussen stumbled through the fifth inning and gave up four runs.

The Indians pulled ahead in a three-run sixth, capitalizing on some uncharacteristically shaky relief work by J.P. Feyereisen and spotty defense by the Rays -- including an error by Franco. But Tampa Bay chipped away at Cleveland’s lead.

Ji-Man Choi and Kevin Kiermaier singled in the sixth before Margot came through with a two-out RBI single. In the seventh, Díaz made it a one-run game by sending his fourth home run of the season just over the wall in right. Relievers Andrew Kittredge and Pete Fairbanks settled things down with three scoreless innings out of the bullpen, setting up the Rays’ winning rally in the ninth.

“They stayed at it and came back, pieced it together against a pretty elite bullpen that has really done some special things this year,” Cash said. “Big win.”