CHICAGO — It's a shame that Tampa Bay's game with the Chicago Cubs didn't mean more in the playoff race, because the Rays had one heck of a fun win on Saturday at Wrigley Field.
They took down the Cubs 5-4, erasing a three-run deficit with a handful of heroes making huge plays along the way. And after losing six of seven games the past week, this one felt good.
Really good.
“Every win is enjoyable. Every comeback,’’ Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “That’s the benefit of having a good group of guys, and we’ve had that all year long. Our record is not what we want it to be, but it also doesn’t take away from the character of the group, and they really showed their character today.''
They sure did, and in many ways.
After blowing a thee-run lead in a 6-4 loss to the Cubs Friday, the Rays fell behind 3-0 on Saturday. Starter Drew Rasmussen gave up an opposite field solo home run the Chicago DH Moises Ballesteros, the first of his career, and then gave up two weird runs in the fourth.
Rasmussen had retired seven hitters in a row and had two outs in the fourth. Nico Hoerner singled, and then Cash ordered an intentional walk to Ballesteros after Rasmussen fell behind. Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson immediately doubled to left, and both runs scored.
Cash took full responsibility for those runs.
“I thought (Rasmussen) was outstanding. I feel bad about the international walk and how that went, and that’s on me,'' Cash said. "But Drew threw the ball really, really well and it makes me sick that those runs came up the way they did off Swanson’s bat. That’s on me, and other than that, he was great.’’
Rasmussen pitched five innings and extended his franchise record streak of 15 straight starts allowing five hits or less dating back to June 19. He has allowed three runs or fewer in each of his last 12 starts.
His streak of not losing road starts — which dates back to April 14, 2003 and spans 12 games — remains intact too because the Rays started a rally of their own. In the fifth inning, big and burly Bob Seymour — a rookie who grew up in the Chicago area — tripled off the wall in right-center, and then scored on a Richie Palacios ground ball to make it 3-1.
Rasmussen pitched a scoreless fifth and then the Rays tied it in the sixth. Yandy Diaz opened the inning with a single, and scored on a long Brandon Lowe double off the ivy in center field. And with two outs, Jake Mangum came through with a big single to tie the game 3-3.
Then it really started getting fun.
The Cubs went back in front when Michael Busch hit a two-out solo homer off Garrett Cleavinger in the bottom of the seventh, but then Junior Caminero answered in the eighth, crushing an 0-2 fastball right down the middle of the plate and depositing it deep into the left field bleachers. It was his 43rd home run of the year, and he's now just three shy of the club record of 46 held by Carlos Pena.
In the ninth, Rays catcher Nick Fortes led off the inning with a homer to give the Rays a 5-4 lead. It was his fifth homer of the year, and second hit of the game. He also had a seventh-inning double.
“Mangum’s base hit and then Cami’s homer and Forte’s homer were big,'' Cash said. "Cami’s a special player, and there’s no denying it. He can hit the ball to all fields off of anybody and off of any pitch.
"To tie it up there, and for Forte, he got a hold of every bit of that ball. It went a long way. It was probably a friendly place to hit today, but I'm happy for Forte to come off the bench and get a double and a big homer. ''
Pete Fairbanks came on in the ninth and promptly walked the first two batters, and the fourth ball to Willi Castro went all the way to the wall, allowing Swanson to advance to third. But then he got Matt Shaw to hit a ground ball to third. Swanson broke on contact, so Caminero threw home and then Fortes chased him down and tagged him before he could get back to third.
Fairbanks then struck out Busch and Ian Happ to end the game. Fairbanks didn't make it easy, but he got it done for his 26th save of the year. The Rays are now 73-75 on the year with 14 games to go.
In the jubilant Rays locker room, Rasmussen and Fairbanks — who had adjoining lockers — decided to do their postgame interviews together, with smiles on their faces the whole time.
Fairbanks was asked about Rasmussen's start — "the stuff was pretty good, but the results don't always match it; he gave us what we expect from him every time he takes the ball'' — and Rasmussen was asked about Fairbanks' nail-biter of a ninth inning.
"I just told him I appreciated him walking the lead-off guy just to feel something,'' Rasmussen said with a laugh. "Other than that, his stuff is good and when he's in the zone, good things are going to happen. We got a great play from Junior and then punch-out, punch out.
"The second walk, I didn't like that as much, but it all worked out. It wasn't necessarily the prettiest game as far as the pitching staff goes, but it worked out and our offense helped pick up us.''
Fortes was hitting just .161 with Rays since joining the club on July 29, so having a huge game-winning home run late in the game was huge. He loved it, too.
"I know I've only been here for a month and a half, maybe two, but as soon as I got here, I could tell how this group was,'' Fortes said. "It doesn't matter what the score is or how many games back we are, this is a resilient group and we expect to win, as they have for many seasons.
"I had seen two sliders right before that pitch, two good ones on the outside corner. And so, honestly, with two strikes the thought process was to just stay short and move the ball. Thankfully it was a hanger, and that's what I like to hunt, balls up in the zone. It was a nice little string of events today that happened for me, and that was fun. It feels great.''
The Rays wrap up their week-long stay on Sunday with a 2:20 p.m. ET game. Adrian Houser (8-4, 3.11 ERA) will start for Tampa Bay, with left-hander Shota Imanaga (9-7, 3.21 ERA) going for the Cubs.