Rays' Veteran Hitters Come Through Late in 2-1 Victory Over Giants

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — Justin Verlander is 42 years old and a surefire Hall of Famer. He pitched seven scoreless innings Saturday night, but it was the Tampa Bay Rays who had some veterans come through at the end.

Yandy Diaz and Brandon Lowe, the elder statesmen on the Rays, came through with huge hits in the eighth inning and the Rays strutted away with a 2-1 come-from-behind win over the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park. It was their second straight win here, and third overall. It's their first three-game winning streak since late June in Kansas City.

And it was much needed, especially since they couldn't do anything against Verlander, who allowed only two hits, had eight strikeouts and retired 16 Rays in a row at one point.

But he left after seven with a 1-0 lead, and was set to get just his second win of the year. But the Rays got to the Giants bullpen in the eighth to flip the script. Giants righty Joese Butto got the first two outs, but then he hit catcher Nick Fortes with a pitch. Tristan Gray pinch-ran for him.

Chandler Simpson was next, and it looked liked he walked on a 3-1 pitch that was several inches below the strike zone. But it was called a strike by home plate umpire Dan Iassonga. Rays manager Kevin Cash complained from the dugout, and he got quickly tossed. After a brief argument, Simposon stepped back in and slapped a hard single to left-center.

Diaz then did his thing, singling to center to score Gray and tie the game at 1-1. Brandon Lowe then won it when he hung tough on a breaking ball away, slapping it into left field to score Simpson. Pete Fairbanks closed it out for his 22nd save, handing the Giants their 15th loss in 16 home games.

"I always say that when you are driving the ball the other way that you are going to have chances, and Chandler has been doing that too,'' Diaz said. "Thank God he had a big hit, and Brandon did too the other way.

''It was an important win. Everybody knows what kind of pitcher Verlander is and we weren't able to do much against him. But we were able to get the victory tonight.''

Verlander is just 1-9 this year, but he's also been very good lately, allowing one run or less in four of his last five starts. Cash knew this wasn't going to be easy, and it wasn't. Those big hits in the eighth were the difference.

"Yeah, that was impressive, a bunch of impressive at-bats,'' said Cash, who didn't see Simpson's single as he walked back to the clubhouse. "I was coming up here at the time of that happened. So then saw Yandy's single, and saw B-Lowe hang in there on a breaking ball, the other way.

"So a lot of big at-bats to work in our favor.''

The Rays were in the game thanks to a great start from Adrian Houser, who had lost his first two starts with Tampa Bay since being traded from the Chicago White Sox at the deadline. He pitched five scoreless innings, matching Verlander strde for stride.

":That was fun. That's a future Hall of Famer over there, so any time you can put your best foot forward and give your guys a chance to win, you're going to love that kind of moment,'' Houser said. "It was an exciting time.

"It was awesome (seeing Diaz and Lowe get big hits). We rely on them so much in those kind of moments, and they came through. We know we've got a chance when those guys are walking up to the plate.''

The Giants scored their one run in the sixth. With three left-handers in the next four at-bats, Cash opted for lefty Mason Montgomery out of the bullpen. He struck out Rafael Devers, but Willy Adames — the one right-handed hitter — singled. Montgomery walked Dominic Smith and then Jung Hoo Lee flied out to right.

Cash then brought in Edwin Uceta to face Christian Koss, who fought off a fastball and singled to left, scoring Adames. Uceta then retired four straight batters through the eighth and Fairbanks closed the door, allowing a leadoff single to Lee, but striking out the side from there.

The Rays are now 61-63 and remain 5.5 games out of the wild-card race. They conclude their 12-game road trip on Sunday with Ryan Pepiot taking on Logan Webb. A fourth straight win would be huge. They haven't won four in a row since June 13-16.

"Yeah, yeah, it is (a step in the right direction,'' Cash said. "And definitely, we will take any step right now. We're doing some good things. That was just a really well pitched ball game by both clubs.

"They came up with a big hit first and third off Uceta  but then Uceta was just filthy the rest of the way there. And then we had some big answers against their backend bullpen guys.''

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