TAMPA -- It was shaping up to be another frustrating night at home for the Rays.
Through seven innings on Tuesday, they managed to advance just one runner to second base and ran the risk of wasting another strong pitching performance. Another left-handed starter gave them fits.
In one fourth inning at-bat, Danny Jansen was a combined two feet of foul territory away from a game-tying homer and an RBI double, only to finish the at-bat by striking out.
But it wound up being a night to celebrate, a testament to the resilience of a club that too often hasn’t played up to its expectations but hasn’t lost its belief.
Jonathan Aranda erased a two-run deficit in the eighth inning, and Taylor Walls hit a walk-off sacrifice fly in the ninth to complete the Rays’ come-from-behind, 3-2 victory over the Astros at George M. Steinbrenner Field.
“This team is always in the game,” Aranda said through interpreter Eddie Rodriguez. “Sometimes we start slow and we catch up during the game, but we're going to fight 'til the end -- and that's what we did today.”
It was the Rays’ sixth victory of the season when trailing at any point after the seventh inning, the most in the Majors. It was also the Rays’ fourth walk-off win of the season, tied for third-most in the Majors, their 11th comeback win and their fifth such victory after trailing by multiple runs.
“The vibe in here is still that we're going to go out and win games. Like, we know we can do it,” starter Zack Littell said. “We've seen it a lot this year. It feels like later in games, we kind of kick our way back into it. Fun to watch and glad we got it done.”
The Rays’ pitching gave them a chance.
The Astros made Littell work, forcing him to throw 103 pitches in five innings, but he held them to two runs on seven hits while striking out six. Relievers Edwin Uceta, Garrett Cleavinger and Pete Fairbanks put up zeroes after that, keeping Tampa Bay’s deficit at two runs, then Manuel Rodríguez pitched a scoreless ninth to keep it tied.
It was the fourth time this season the Rays bullpen combined to throw at least four scoreless innings and the first such instance this month.
“This bullpen, when we're right and rolling, they're totally equipped to throw a lot of shutdown innings,” manager Kevin Cash said. “And tonight we needed every single one of them.”
Eventually, the Rays took advantage of their stellar pitching.
With one out in the eighth inning, pinch-runner Kameron Misner and José Caballero pulled off a double-steal, taking advantage of an Astros staff that had allowed 56 steals in 61 prior attempts.
“I really applaud Mize for being mindful,” Cash said. “He knows that Cabby is just as important as him and that, if we have an opportunity, go ahead and take it.”
Standing in the batter’s box, Aranda admitted his adrenaline spiked when the tying run moved into scoring position. It’s been a relatively tough week for Tampa Bay’s breakout bat, as he was 2-for-18 with 10 strikeouts in his last five games. But he laced a 2-2 pitch from lefty Steven Okert into right field for a two-run single.
“If he doesn't get that hit, I really don't know if this game turns out to be the way it did,” Walls said.
Given new life by Aranda’s clutch hit, the Rays capitalized thanks to Walls and some clutch work ahead of him.
Facing right-hander Kaleb Ort, Christopher Morel led off the ninth with a walk, then Brandon Lowe flipped a 73 mph double to left field. After Josh Lowe popped out, Walls came to the plate.
The slick-fielding shortstop has found himself in a lot of big spots this season and, unfortunately, come out on the wrong end more often than not. He was third on the team in plate appearances with runners in scoring position (40) entering the night, but tied for seventh in RBIs (eight) in those situations.
It played out that way in Monday’s loss, when Walls couldn’t get a bunt down in a key situation in the ninth inning. And it ate at him, as he said he let that frustration keep him up until 4:30 a.m.
But he came through this time, hitting a fly ball deep enough to left for Morel to tag up and score the winning run from third. On this night, Walls welcomed the relief of his second career walk-off plate appearance.
“I needed it, personally. … It feels like the times you don't come through heavily [overshadow] the times that you do,” Walls said. “This one was big for me, personally, and yeah, I'll go home and celebrate it.”