ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — It was the third inning and 22-year-old Luis Patino, who has frequent flyer points on the Durham-to-St. Pete shuttle, was in trouble. He had lost his control — both physically and mentally — and the Boston Red Sox were taking advantage of it.
Down two runs already, Patino knew he had to dial it back in and right the ship. That's not easy to do for a young pitcher, but for a team in a pennant race, it had to be done. He got rookie Triston Casas to pop up to end the threat, then cruised through the fourth and fifth innings to keep his team in the game.
That's all the Rays needed. They added a run in the fifth and two more in the seventh to come back and win 4-3 in the first game of an important three-game series with the Red Sox.
Patino didn't get the win — Calvin Faucher did, more on that in a bit — but he certainly contributed. But he kept the Rays in the game, and they took it from there.
That's all you can ask from a starting pitcher some days.
"That third inning got a little strange there, but I was just trying to do was keep the guys in the game,'' Patino said through interpreter Manny Navarro. "I tried to stay focused. Even after walking those first two batters, I tried to get a little too perfect (in giving up two runs with a single and a double in the third), but from there I just tried to attack the zone.
"Going up and down (to and from Durham) is tough, and trying to stay strong mentally is the toughest part. But when I'm here, I just want to help my guys.''
Patino, who had been called up earlier in the day to start his fourth stint with the Rays this season, threw 91 pitches in his five innings of work. And the Rays bullpen took it from there, which they often do. They pitched four scoreless innings, giving the Rays' bats a chance to make some noise.
In the fifth, the Rays made it 3-2 when Jose Siri reached on an infield single, and scored on a Randy Arozarena double to left.
They took the lead for good in the seventh, with one professional play after another. Vidal Brujan, who was pinch-hitting for second baseman Yu Chang, got hit by a pitch in his left elbow. He stole second and went to third on a grounder to the right side by Jose Siri.
Manuel Margot tied the game with a double to deep right, scoring Brujan. It was his eighth hit that tied or took the lead in the game after the seventh. That's tied for second in the majors, which is amazing considering he missed two months with a knee injury.
"Manny's got a knack for coming up with big hits for us,'' Cash said. "As we get healthier, we certainly like the way our lineup is built.''
David Peralta, who's been on fire himself, then drove in the winning run with a double to right, scoring Margot. The 36-year-old Peralta, who joined the Rays on July 31 after a long career in Arizona, is hitting 10-for-24 — a whopping .417 average — with runners in scoring position since coming over.
Calvin Faucher pitched the top of the seventh for Tampa Bay, and was the pitcher of record after the Rays' rally. He wasn't sharp, walking two batters and giving up a single, but got out of his bases loaded jam when he struck out Trevor Story to end the threat.
The Red Sox had no chance from there. Colin Poche pitched the eighth inning and recorded three straight strikeouts. He's been very good lately, allowing just one run and four hits in his last 10 outings dating back to Aug. 18.
Pete Fairbanks came on to pitch the ninth, and he's been even better. He did give up a leadoff single to pinch-hitter Reese McGuire, but then he struck out Tommy Pham, got a ground ball for a force-out from Alex Verdugo, and then struck out Xander Bogaerts looking to end the game. it was his fifth save of the season.
Fairbanks, who missed the first four months of the season with a lat injury, has been tremendous since his return. He gave up runs in his first two appearances, but has been perfect since then, not allowing a run in 16 straight appearances now. During that time, he's allowed only seven hits and has struck out 24 batters in 15 2/3 innings.
That's crazy good.
"He's been electric, has electric stuff. He's commanding the zone, and when he's doing that, no one in this league can touch him,'' fellow Rays reliever Jason Adam said. "It's a great weapon for us to have down the stretch. You know it's over when he goes out there.
"Numbers wise, it's got elite carry for that velo. The velo's elite, the carry is elite. It's a great combo to have. You send him out there, and you know he's going to do his job. It's fun to watch.''
Patino, the Colombian native how has pitched 113 big-league innings, handled the tense moments well and got through it, which turned out to be huge.
"Luis has enough reps at the big-league level, but in the moment, it can speed up on you. He fought through it. I thought our pitching was really good,'' Cash said. "Give Luis a lot of credit for bouncing back and getting through the fourth and fifth and then piecing it together with the rest of the guys.''
The two teams are back at it on Tuesday night at 6:40 p.m. ET. Drew Rasmussen (9-4, 2.70 ERA) is pitching for Tampa Bay against former Rays pitcher Rich Hill.
The Rays are now 10-4 this season against Boston, and 7-1 at Tropicana Field. They have won the season series against the Red Sox for the fourth straight year, which is the longest streak in club history.
Tampa Bay is still five games out in the American League Central race because the Yankees won 5-2 over Minnesota on Saturday.
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