The Tampa Bay Rays (12-8) defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates (12-9) 8-7 in a wild, thirteen-inning game on a rainy night in Pittsburgh. With the win, the Rays have evened the three-game interleague series.
The Pirates built a 4-0 lead in the fourth-inning before the game went into a rain delay of two hours and twenty-seven minutes. After the rain delay the Rays scored five runs in the fifth to take a 5-4 lead. That would be the score until the eighth inning, when the Pirates got a single run to tie the game 5-5 - that would force the game into extra innings.
After a scoreless tenth inning, both teams traded runs in the eleventh to make it 6-6. Another scoreless frame unfolded in the twelfth, before Cedric Mullins hit a two-run homer in the thirteenth to give the Rays an 8-6 lead. The Pirates got one back in the bottom of the thirteenth to pull within 8-7, but Yoendrys Gomez held on to earn his first save of the season.
The Rays and Pirates will now meet in the rubber game of the three-game series coming up on Sunday afternoon. First pitch on Sunday is scheduled for 1:35 PM - pregame coverage begins with Chris Adams-Wall hosting This Week in Rays Baseball at high noon on 95.7 WDAE & AM 620, your Home of Rays Baseball.
COVER PHOTO COURTESY GETTY IMAGES