Eight-run, ninth-inning rally lifts Tigers past Rays
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Down 7-2 in the ninth, the Detroit Tigers rallied for seven hits and eight runs in the final inning, stunning the Tampa Bay Rays with a 10-7 win Thursday at Tropicana Field.
The Rays had held the Tigers to four hits entering the ninth, and they were 28-1 this season when leading after eight.
Reliever Ryan Garton then gave up four singles without recording an out, and Erasmo Ramirez (7-7) gave up two more hits, then a bases-loaded walk to tie the game. A three-run double by Cameron Maybin -- who led off the inning with a single -- gave the Tigers for the unlikely lead.
Tampa Bay hadn't allowed more than five runs in any inning this season, and Detroit matched a season high with the eight-run showing.
How the ninth unraveled for the Rays: Maybin, Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez and Nick Castellanos singled to chase Garton with the lead still 7-3. Ramirez gave up an RBI single to Justin Upton and a sacrifice fly to Steven Moya, then an RBI single to Jarrod Saltalamacchia to make it 7-6.
Ramirez walked Jose Iglesias to load the bases, then walked Ian Kinsler to tie the game. Maybin's double to left-center cleared the bases and completed the rally.
The bullpen disaster came after Rays starter Jake Odorizzi held the Tigers to one hit in the first five innings. Reliever Matt Andriese got out of a sixth-inning jam and pitched three innings, setting up what should have been an easy ninth inning.
Nick Franklin gave the Rays a 5-0 lead with a two-out, three-run double in the third inning, giving him nine RBIs for the week after he spent most of the season in the minors. He totaled just seven RBIs in 44 games last season.
Tampa Bay (33-45) added two insurance runs in the eighth from the bottom of their lineup, with No. 8 hitter Oswaldo Arcia singling and stealing second, then scoring on an RBI double by No. 9 hitter Hank Conger, who broke out of an 0-for-12 slump with the hit. Logan Forsythe brought in Conger with his third hit of the night. The Rays matched a season high with six doubles, two from Evan Longoria.
Tigers reliever Anibal Sanchez (5-8) allowed two runs in two innings but emerged with the win. Francisco Rodriguez threw a scoreless ninth for his 22nd save.
Maybin finished with three hits and four RBIs, and Iglesias added two hits and two runs for Detroit.
Longoria had three hits for Tampa Bay, which got two hits apiece from Corey Dickerson and Oswaldo Arcia.
NOTES: Before throwing two scoreless innings in Wednesday's shutout win, the Rays' bullpen had a streak of 13 straight games allowing at least one run. The bullpen had a 9.00 ERA -- worst in the majors -- during that stretch, with Tampa Bay going 1-12 in those games. ... As the Rays stretched in the outfield before the game, players watched the final of the College World Series on the stadium's video board. Rookie OF Taylor Motter is a Coastal grad and promptly pulled off his Rays jersey on the clinching final out to show a Coastal T-shirt, which he kept on during infield drills. ... Detroit's Steven Moya and Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit back-to-back home runs in Wednesday's win over the Marlins -- the sixth time the Tigers have done that in 2016 but the first in more than a month, since J.D. Martinez and Miguel Cabrera on May 23.