It was a rough night for the Rays. There’s no other way around it. Tampa Bay trailed by 5 runs at the end of the 1st inning after a Taylor Motter grand slam. That lead was extended to 8-0 in the 3rd and Jake Odorizzi was chased before the end of the inning. The Rays used the long ball to inch their way back into this one at 8-4, but the Seattle Mariners scored 4 more runs in the bottom of the 7th to extend their lead again and ice a 12-4 victory.
Things couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start for Jake Odorizzi and the Rays. Before there were any outs, Odorizzi found the bases full of Mariners. Odorizzi rebounded and retired the next 2 batters, but then walked a run in and then allowed a grand slam to former Ray, Taylor Motter, and Seattle found themselves with an early 5-run advantage. Odorizzi had a better 2nd inning, but couldn’t get through the 3rd. Danny Valencia sent a 3-run homerun to the seats to end Odorizzi’s night after giving up 8 runs in just 2 ⅓ innings.
The Rays got themselves on the board in the top of the 4th. Colby Rasmus and Tim Beckham came through with back to back solo homers to cut the lead to 8-2. The long ball continued to bring the Rays closer. Kevin Kiermaier’s 7th homerun of the year cut the lead to 4 in the 7th inning.
Valencia continued to be a Ray killer in the Seattle 7th. His RBI single tied a career high with a 5-RBI night and made the lead 9-4. Seattle would add on 3 more runs before they were retired in the 7th and got the lead back to the largest margin of the night at 12-4
It will be another edition of Late Night with the Rays on Saturday night. Alex Cobb will head to the mound for Tampa Bay to face Sam Gaviglio and the Mariners. 1st pitch is set for 10:10 with coverage beginning with The Inside Pitch and Steve Carney at 9 pm right here on WDAE.