Rays Come Back to Beat Marlins 3-2, Finish Successful Homestand With 5-1 Record

TAMPA, Fla. — Drew Rasmussen was pitching for the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday, so you knew he'd be a big part of the story, one way or another. But it was two other pitchers who stole the show in the Rays' dramatic 3-2 victory over the Miami Marlins on Sunday at Steinbrenner Field.

Rasmussen did his part, of course, pitching six solid innings and allowing just two runs, one in the first that ended his 23-inning scoreless streak, and another in the fifth. Yandy Diaz — who was playing first base Sunday with a left-hander, Anthony Veneziano, starting for the Marlins — tied the game with a two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth. Rasmussen pitched a perfect sixth inning, and left with the game tied at 2-2, leaving the outcome up to the bullpen.

Kevin Kelly got the first two outs in the seventh, sandwiched around a single, but then Rays manager Kevin Cash made a curious decision. He brough in left-hander Mason Montgomery, who's really been struggling lately, but he got Xavier Edwards to ground out to third to end the inning.

It was a big out for Montgomery, who's given up seven runs in his last six innings of work since May 16.

Edwin Uceta came in to pitch the eighth inning, and he's really been struggling, too. He's given up 10 runs since May 8, in just 10 2/3 innings of work. It also seemed like a curious decision in a tie game, but Uceta came through, pitching a perfect eighth with two strikeouts.

The Rays grabbed the lead in the bottom of the inning. Diaz doubled to left, his third hit of the day, and Jose Caballero pinch-ran for him. The Marlins brought in former Ray Calvin Faucher to pitch, and he failed to pay attention to Caballero, who easily stole third base. Two pitches later, he scored on a sacrifice fly by Brandon Lowe to go ahead.

Rays closer Pete Fairbanks had pitched two days in a row — and four of five days — so he wasn't available to pitch the ninth. Cash, somewhat surprisingly, sent Uceta back out there. And all he did was pitch a perfect ninth, striking out center fielder Dane Myers to end the game.

Six batters, six outs for Uceta. A nice surprise for the Rays, who are back to five games over .500 again after a 5-1 homestand.

“Uceta needed an outing like that, and you could tell he was pretty pumped up after that final strikeout,” Cash said during his postgame press conference. “He had good stuff, good velocity, and just commanded the ball in the zone.

"That looked very close to the version of what we've seen when he's at his best.”

The Rays wrapped up the homestand with a 5-1 mark, with the only loss that 11-10 slugfest on Saturday night. Three straight day games in 90-degree heat against the Marlins was draining, and they weren't doing much at the plate until Diaz's homer. But it was enough to get them tied, and then they manufactured a run to win it,.

That's just what they've been doing lately.

“If he puts me in to pinch-run, it’s to run,” said Caballero, who's tied for the AL lead in stolen bases with 21. "(Faucher) really wasn’t paying attention to me, so you either get thrown out or you'll be at third with one out. It's either one or the other. So I took the risk and it paid off. I'm happy that it did.”

The Rays hit the road now, starting a three-game series in Boston on Monday night. They are off Thursday, then play a weekend series against the New York Mets at Citi Field.

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