From frustration to elation: Rays walk off with series win

ST. PETERSBURG -- For the Rays to accomplish their top regular-season goal of claiming another American League East championship, they need every win they can get.

Even if they don’t overtake the division-leading Orioles in the next 10 days, they want to feel good about themselves heading into the postseason.

They did their part in the bottom of the ninth inning on Thursday afternoon, walking off with a 5-4 victory over the Angels, turning another potentially frustrating loss into what second baseman Brandon Lowe labeled a “great, no-quit win” at Tropicana Field.

Manuel Margot’s walk-off single to right field off reliever Carlos Estévez capped the two-run rally and sent Tampa Bay home with its 10th walk-off win of the season, tied for most in the Majors.

“We've got to create some momentum here. Last night was tough. For eight innings, it was tough,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “I'm glad we had the ninth.”

• Games remaining (8): vs. TOR (3), at BOS (2), at TOR (3)
• Standings update: The Orioles (95-58) hold a 1 1/2-game lead over the Rays (94-60) for first place in the AL East. Baltimore also controls the head-to-head tiebreaker against Tampa Bay. The Rays still hold a comfortable advantage in the AL Wild Card race over the Blue Jays (85-68), Mariners (84-68) and Rangers (84-68).
• Postseason status: Clinched a playoff berth

The Rays were trailing by a run as they stepped up to face Estévez, who had converted 30 of his first 33 save opportunities this season. Pinch-hitting for catcher René Pinto, Harold Ramírez continued his remarkable run of success off the bench by slapping a leadoff single to left. Ramírez is 11-for-20 as a pinch-hitter in 2023, a franchise record for the most pinch-hit knocks in a single season.

“When I go there, I just try to put the ball in play,” said Ramírez, who’s 20-for-39 as a pinch-hitter for the Rays the last two years. “If I put it in play, something's going to happen.”

Yandy Díaz moved pinch-runner Osleivis Basabe to second with a ground-ball single to left, then Isaac Paredes delivered a game-tying single to left with one out. It was Paredes’ team-leading 92nd RBI and his third game-tying/go-ahead RBI in the ninth inning or later this season.

The Rays’ biggest hits of the inning weren’t crushed off the bat; Paredes’ single clocked in at 71 mph, according to Statcast, and Margot’s game-winner at just 58.8 mph. But both exemplified the club’s strategy in the ninth -- taking what they were given and putting the ball in play rather than trying to end the game with one swing.

“I don't think anyone tried to really get out of their zone,” Díaz said through interpreter Manny Navarro. “They all tried to stay locked in and tried to look for their pitch, and I think that's what helped us get through that inning.”

Josh Lowe kept the line moving and loaded the bases with a two-out walk, then Margot completed the comeback with a broken-bat flare to right field.

Margot had been using that bat since at least August, before an elbow injury caused him to miss a month. He was happy to give it up to start Thursday’s walk-off celebration, though, given what’s at stake down the stretch.

“Any win at this point in the year is big for us,” said starter Zach Eflin, who gave up two runs in the fourth inning after being hit in the upper thigh by a comebacker but struck out 10 with just one walk over five solid innings. “It was nice to come back in the ninth inning and show that spark that we've had all year, coming in and playing hard late in games.”

Until then, in Cash's words, the Rays had been “setting up for another very, very frustrating day,” a second straight loss defined by missed opportunities.

The Rays were 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position through eight innings, bringing their total over the previous five games to 8-for-49 in those situations. And they lost the lead in the sixth due to a rare lapse by reliever Shawn Armstrong.

Armstrong had not permitted an earned run in 19 1/3 innings spanning 15 appearances dating back to Aug. 9 and hadn’t allowed a home run since his seventh appearance of the season on June 20. But after plunking Jared Walsh with one out, the right-hander surrendered a tiebreaking two-run shot to Jo Adell on a high, 94.7 mph fastball.

But Margot cut the Angels’ lead in half with an RBI double in the sixth and finished the job in the ninth.

“We know that the Orioles are above us. We can't control what they can do,” Margot said through Navarro. “We've just got to be able to control what we can.”