The last time the Rays faced the Tigers, it went very poorly for Tampa Bay. They went into the series looking to topple an easy opponent, and instead the series seemed to turn everything around for the Tigers, at least for a brief period of time. The Tigers once again find themselves down and out, so it remains to be seen if it will be an easy series for the Rays, or if it will once again be a surprise turnaround for Detroit. To open the three-game series, the Rays had Drew Rasmussen on the mound. The Tigers, meanwhile, had gutted much of their pitching core at the trade deadline, and had a groundball-heavy pitcher Framber Valdez up in the rotation.
The Rays got on the board right out of the gate with some early contact. Yandy Diaz got a leadoff single. Ryan Vilade then singled, and thanks to a fielding error from Tigers' outfielder Brett Callahan, so both runners advanced into scoring position. A Junior Caminero groundout allowed the first run of the game to score. Jonny DeLuca then singled, bumping Vilade to third. A Jonathan Aranda groundout scored another run for the Rays. Jorge Mateo drew a walk before Valdez finally got the last out of the inning, but he was showing some obvious early signs of struggle, so the Rays would need to chip away and try to get to the Tigers' struggling bullpen early.
In the home half, the Tigers went 1-2-3. Chandler Simpson had an ugly catch in the outfield and it appeared he might be injured, but he came up to bat at the top of the next inning.
Despite a rough first inning from Valdez, he turned things around to get a three-up, three-down inning. Thankfully, the Tigers did the same in the home half to keep the score even.
With one out in the third, Junior Caminero drew a walk. A Jonny DeLuca double then appeared to score an additional run, but it wasn't a clear safe. The Tigers challenged the safe call at home, and after a review, the call on the field was overturned. Depending on the view it was possible Caminero might have missed touching the plate altogether, but it definitely confirmed Tigers' catcher Dillon Dingler tagged him before he reached the plate. A bummer for the Rays, but they still held a two-run lead. With two outs in the bottom of the inning, Javier Baez singled, but that was followed by a Colt Keith strikeout to end the inning.
Jorge Mateo opened the fourth with a leadoff double. Then a Nick Fortes sac bunt advanced Mateo to third. Chandler Simpson then singled, scoring the third Rays' run of the night.
In the home half, McGonigle got a one-out double. Dingler then singled, pushing McGonigle to third. Callahan then made up for his earlier error with a sac fly to bring McGonigle home and the Tigers got their first run of the evening.
Caminero got a one-out single in the fifth, but DeLuca then hit into a double play to end the inning. The Tigers went 1-2-3 in the home half.
Aranda opened the sixth with a solo home run. Three outs followed, but the Rays had boosted their lead to 4-1.
The Tigers went three-up, three-down again in the home half.
Tanner Rainey was the first reliever out of the Tigers' pen and got the first strikeout of the game for Detroit. He then walked Yandy Diaz. Two outs followed, though, leaving the runner stranded. Rasmussen was also done for the day, going 6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, on 103 pitches. A really nice outing from Rasmussen. Garrett Cleavinger replaced him. The Tigers once again went down in order in the bottom of the inning.
In the eighth, Mateo drew a walk with two outs. He then stole second, but was caught stealing (after narrowly avoiding a tagout at first right beforehand). While Mateo did indicate he wanted a review, the Rays didn't challenge the call. Manuel Rodríguez was the new Rays' reliever in the bottom of the inning. Spencer Torkelson got a leadoff double. Two outs later, Keith walked. The Tigers were not able to take advantage of their baserunners, though, and a final out ended the inning. The Rays just had to get through one more inning.
Tyler Holton came in for the top of the ninth. He gave up a one-out single to Simpson, but the Rays weren't able to capitalize on the baserunner or add to their lead. Bryan Baker was the final Rays' reliever for the bottom of the inning. With one out, Dingler was hit by a pitch, then Ben Malgeri singled, sending Dingler to third. The Tigers were not able to take advantage of a great scoring opportunity and the Rays held on to win the first game of the series.
Final: Rays 4, Tigers 1
