SEATTLE — Luke Raley doubled and later scored on Isaac Parades’ infield grounder at the start of an eight-run eighth inning for Tampa Bay, and the Rays rallied from a 4-0 deficit to beat the Seattle Mariners 15-4 on Friday night.
Tampa Bay sent 13 batters to the plate in the eighth and sent a smattering of Mariners fans who didn’t want to wait out the postgame fireworks to the exits. Those that remained cascaded boos on the home team as the Rays kept hitting and scoring.
Randy Arozarena and Josh Lowe homered earlier in the game for Tampa Bay and Jose Siri homered in the ninth inning with infielder Mike Ford on the mound.
But the eighth inning was nearly perfect for the Rays.
Raley opened the inning with a double off Seattle’s Andrés Muñoz and advanced to third on Arozarena’s single. Parades chopped a 100 mph fastball from Muñoz (0-1) toward third baseman Eugenio Suárez, but he wasn’t able to make a clean transfer and throw trying to get Raley at the plate.
That opened the flood gates. Lowe followed with an RBI double that knocked Muñoz from the game, but the hitting continued.
Taylor Walls (single), Christian Bethancourt (double), Yandy Díaz (single), Wander Franco (double) and Arozarena (fielders’ choice) all drove in runs. Many Seattle fans gave a sarcastic standing ovation when Lowe grounded out to finally end the inning.
Tampa Bay Rays’ Randy Arozarena looks back while heading home to score against the Seattle Mariners during the eighth inning of a baseball game Friday, June 30, 2023, in Seattle. Credit: AP/Caean Couto
The big rally by Tampa Bay erased the memory of ace Shane McClanahan lasting just three innings in his shortest start of the season.
McClanahan labored through three innings and matched a season-high with four earned runs allowed. McClanahan had his start pushed back a few days after leaving his previous outing against Kansas City on June 22 after 3 2/3 innings due to some back soreness.
McClanahan’s outing fell apart in the second…
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