CHICAGO — Back in the spring, both Tristan Gray and Adrian Houser weren't sure where they were going to be play baseball this year. Both spent time in the minors, and then were with the Chicago White Sox.
They are with Tampa Bay now, though, and both played huge roles in the Rays' 5-4 win over the Sox on Tuesday night at Rate Field. Houser had another solid start, striking out nine in 5 1/3 innings — including six in a row at one point — and the seldom-used Gray hit the deciding home run in the seventh inning off former Tampa Bay pitcher Tyler Alexander to give the Rays the lead.
"Pretty big moment for him, and for us,'' Rays manager Kevin Cash said of Gray's homer, his third of the year and just the fourth of his career. "And for him to do it against Tyler, who we know is tough against lefties. He hung in there, got a pitch he could hit and drove it out for a huge home run for him.
It was much needed because the Rays had a 4-1 lead at one point and let it all slip away. They got a two-run homer from Josh Lowe and an RBI single from Chandler Simpson in the second, and a Richie Palacios homer in the third, his first of the year.
The White Sox got a run in the fifth, and when Lenyn Sosa singled with one out in the sixth, Cash pulled Houser to play lefty-on-lefty matchups with Mason Montgomery, but it didn't work. Red-hot rookie Colson Montgomery doubled home Sosa, and then fellow left-handed hitter Andrew Benentendi singled to score Montgomery to tie the game at 4-4. Kevin Kelly came in and got the final out of the inning.
The Rays bullpen took it from there, with Bryan Baker pitching a perfect seventh, Edwin Uceta getting through a scoreless eighth with just one single and Pete Fairbanks getting his 25th save of the year in the ninth, navigating around a two-out error by Gray at first base. Chase Meidroth lined out to second base to end the game.
It was big for Fairbanks, who's had a rough couple of weeks. He's had two losses and another blown save in his last seven appearances, and has been at a loss for words to explain what's gone wrong.
But he was sharp on Tuesday, and got the job done. The Rays are now 72-72 with 18 games to go.
"Bigger picture for us, it's a win and hopefully we can use that ... to move toward the baseball we're capable of playing,'' Fairbanks said. "I talked to (pitching coach) Kyle (Snyder) for a while, and with the relationship we have, it's easy for me to go to him with this, that and the other and we chatted for a while.
"Not having any answers and being frustrated stems from the fact that you still feel like you're throwing the ball well and things were just breaking the way you're not expecting. The part that you can still control with that is to still throw the ball over the plate. That's what we did, and hopefully things will continue to shake our way next time.''
The Rays still have a steep hill to climb to get back in the wild-card race, and time is running out. The White Sox, at 55-90, have their worst record of any of their final opponents over the past three weeks, so every win matters.
The need two more against them, starting Wednesday night. Ryan Pepiot was scheduled to pitch for the Rays, but he was scratched late Tuesday night. Griffin Jax will be used as an opener instead.