Rays Explode for 7 Runs in 4th Inning, Cruise to 7-3 Win Over Angels

The Tampa Bay bats have been very quiet lately, which coincided with losing top-hitter Jonathan Aranda to a wrist injury last Thursday. They were shut out by the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday, and shut out again on Sunday to lose the series. Then they flew to the West Coast for the start of a 12-game, 14-day road trip and promptly lost 5-1 to the Angels Monday night.

So that big fourth inning was huge, even if they were blanked in the other eight. They did so much damage that Pepiot (7-9) was able to pick up the win. It was the first time the Rays had won a Pepiot start since July 2, a span of seven games.

The Rays have been waiting for some breaks to go their way during this swoon that's seen them go 10-24 in the past six weeks, and they got several in the fourth. It was scoreless through three, with neither Pepiot nor Angels starter Jose Soriano allowing a hit. But then the Rays exploded in a big way.

And they really needed it.

Yandy Diaz beat out an infield single — yes, that can happen — to open the inning, and then Brandon Lowe blasted a 411-foot homer to center field to give the Rays a 2-0 lead. It was his 20th homer of the year, and the third straight year he's reached the number. But they weren't done either. Not even close.

Junior Caminero singled, and then Josh Lowe doubled to right. Jake Mangum hit a chopper that found a hole in the infield, driving in two runs. For the past month, he probably would have hit that ball five feet in either direction for an out, but instead this one got through for the fifth straight hit in the inning, and it was suddenly 4-0.

After a flyout, new catcher Hunter Feduccia doubled and then Taylor Walls laid down a perfect bunt, scoring Mangum to increase the lead to 5-0. Chandler Simpson doubled to make it 6-0 and Yandy Diaz drove in the final run on a ground ball.

It was an inning full of diverse hits, and the Rays will take it. They know it's there, we just need to see it more often.

“I know everybody can put a bat on a ball, get on base, steal bags, get runs, hit home runs, do all aspects of the game,” said Rays left fielder Chandler Simpson, who was playing his first game in five days. “We know what we’re capable of, and we showed that today.”

Pepiot perfect through four

Pepiot retired the first 12 batters he faced, but then got into some trouble in the fifth after being handed that seven-run lead. He gave up a two-run homer to Jo Adell after a Taylor Walls error allowed Taylor Ward to reach. Pepiot then allowed a walk, double and infield hit to load the bases, but got a double play to end the inning on a perfect relay to home from center fielder Jonny DeLuca to Brandon Lowe to Feduccia at home.

“That was a heck of a play by Jonny to get rid of it quick and B-Lowe just made a tremendous throw, getting rid of it, not assuming anything,” Cash said. “That inning had the potential to start to unravel a little bit on us.”

It sure did. So did the sixth. Pepiot got the first two outs, but then Mike Trout singled and Ward walked. Adell had an RBI single, chasing Pepiot. Griffin Jax, acquired from the Minnesota Twins at the trade deadline, ended the threat by getting Angels catcher Logan O'Hoppe to ground out to first.

The Rays' bullpen took it from there, allowing no runs and just one hit. Bryan Baker pitched the seventh, Edwin Uceta the eighth and Pete Fairbanks the ninth. All three had two strikeouts, an impressive finish by the oft-maligned bullpen to get the win.

“I've been on a little bit of a struggle bus, as has the whole entire team as of late, so that was huge,'' Pepiot told reporters of the seven-run fourth. "Just to see the guys — contagious hitting, one after another — just smoke the ball. Brandon had a homer. Balls found a hole, Walls had a great bunt to score a run.

"It was great to see, just doing things the right way, playing the right way of playing baseball and using all the ways that you can score runs.”

Ground to make up in wild-card race

With the win, the Rays are now 56-59 on the season and in fourth place in the American League East, 11 games behind division-leading Toronto. They are 4.5 games behind the New York Yankees for the last of three wild-card spots, but they also have three teams — the Texas Rangers, Cleveland Guardians and Kansas City Royals — between them and the Yankees.

The Rays can win the series on Wednesday afternoon when they take on the Angels (55-59) at 4:07 pm. ET. Shane Baz (8-8, 4.79 ERA) gets the start for the Rays. Tyler Anderson (2-7, 4.49 ERA) will start for the Angels.

The Rays will be off on Thursday and then play a weekend series in Seattle against the Mariners. Seattle currently holds the second wild-card spot, and holds a 5.5-game edge on Tampa Bay.

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