ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Tampa Bay Rays took advantage of the Cincinnati Reds’ bullpen to score twice in the eighth inning and win 2-1 on Sunday.
The Rays loaded the bases with two outs against the Reds. With one out, Reds reliever Fernando Cruz walked Yandy Diaz, Brandon Lowe reached on an infield single and Isaac Paredes walked.
Cruz struck out Amed Rosario, but catcher Austin Wynns couldn’t handle the throw and runner Jose Caballero scored to tie the game. Lucas Sims came in to replace Cruz and walked Richie Palacios to score Lowe and give the Rays a 2-1 lead.
“Good hitting from Yandy. Great job by (Caballero) putting pressure on him,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said.
“Cruz is nasty, hard to dismiss some of them, but when you’re nasty, sometimes you have to get out of the zone significantly. Great hitting from Richie too.”
Garrett Cleavinger (7-2) pitched a scoreless eighth inning and Pete Fairbanks earned his 20th save of the season.
“It’s good that we play nine,” Lowe said. “An unusual way to win, but 11:35 am start time. I accept any kind of victory.”
Reds starter Hunter Greene gave up just two hits in seven scoreless innings. He was hitless in 5 2/3 innings before Lowe hit a single to right field. Greene struck out five, walked one and struck out two batters.
“Tough loss, but I need to keep going out there and doing my job,” Greene said. “Hopefully we can gain more momentum coming home.”
Wynns had an RBI single in the second inning that scored Stuart Fairchild after he hit one of the Rays’ three errors. On the play, Wynns was caught trying to turn the single into a double and Santiago Espinal was thrown out at home to end the inning.
Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz had three hits and four stolen bases for a total of 55 this season. He also reached base on an error in the eighth inning and made a spectacular catch in short left field to steal a hit from Rays shortstop Taylor Walls in the sixth inning.
“That was fantastic, it definitely gave me an extra boost,” Greene said. “It’s fantastic when he makes plays like that. It’s not the first time he’s done this.”
NEGOTIATIONS
The Rays also made a deal before the game when they sent reliever Jason Adam to the San Diego Padres for right-hander Dylan Lesko, outfielder Homer Bush Jr. and outfielder Homer Bush Jr.
“This was an extremely difficult morning to say goodbye to Jason, who meant so much to our organization on and off the field,” said Rays president Erik Neander. “But we’re excited to see these three guys we got from San Diego grow in our system.”
Also on Sunday, the Chicago Cubs acquired infielder Paredes from the Rays for third baseman Christopher Morel and two minor leaguers.
Paredes is batting .245 with 16 home runs and 55 RBIs in 101 games this season. He signed with Chicago as an amateur free agent in 2015 but was traded to Detroit two years later and made his major league debut with the Tigers in 2020.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Rays: Left-hander Jeffrey Springs (Tommy John surgery) has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list and is expected to start Tuesday against the Miami Marlins. … Right-hander Drew Rasmussen (right flexor strain) threw two scoreless innings at Triple-A Durham on Saturday and could return to the Rays as a reliever in August.
NEXT
Right-hander Carson Spiers (3-2, 3.83 ERA) will start for the Reds against the Chicago Cubs on Monday. Springs will make his season debut against the Marlins on Tuesday.
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