The Tampa Bay Rays saw their 11-game home winning streak snapped after an extra-innings collapse against the Miami Marlins. Despite another dominant outing from Nick Martinez, Miami exploded for eight runs in the 10th inning as bullpen concerns continue to grow for Tampa Bay.
The Tampa Bay Rays' winning streak at Tropicana Field came to an end on Saturday as they fell to the Miami Marlins 10-5 in extra innings. The team couldn't come back from an eight-run 10th inning from their Citrus series rivals.
Here are today's top takeaways from the contest.
Marlins Find Their Bats in Extra Innings
The Rays took the Marlins to extra innings tied 2-2, but the scoring would change massively once the 10th inning began. Miami batted through the entire order and put up eight runs to give the team a commanding lead.
Tampa Bay gave it their best shot at making a comeback, scoring three runs themselves in the extra frame, but it was not enough to keep the home winning streak alive. Junior Camienero and Jonathan Aranda both picked up RBI doubles in the inning, but the team still fell short.
Nick Martinez is Pitching at an All-Star level
It was another quality start for Rays pitcher Nick Martinez as he continues to strengthen his case not only for making the upcoming All-Star game this summer, but also for starting it. He went six innings of scoreless baseball against the Marlins on Saturday, only allowing five hits, one walk, and striking out four.
His 1.51 ERA is the second-best among starting pitchers in baseball across his nine appearances. Saturday's start also marks his sixth straight game giving the team five or more innings of work.
Bullpen Blunder Continues to Plague Kevin Cash in Extras
The Rays seemed to have an answer for the Marlins the entire game until extra innings began, and were easily on pace to continue their winning ways, but one bad outing from reliever Hunter Biggie let this game get out of control. This squad will have to address the back end of their bullpen once the MLB trade deadline approaches, as this is the second extra-innings game blunder from the relief staff in less than a week.
Tampa Bay moves to 29-15 on the year and continues to hold a 1.5 game lead in the American League East over the New York Yankees.
The two teams will be back in action on Sunday for the finale of the Citrus series at Tropicana Field. Drew Rasmussen (3-1, 3.16 ERA) will take the mound tomorrow for the Rays as the Marlins will go with Eury Perez (2-5, 4.94 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 12:15 pm EDT.