Richie Palacios drove in Junior Caminero with a ninth-inning single, giving the Tampa Bay Rays a 2-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg on Saturday.
Palacios hit a 65.7 mph popup into shallow right field between Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Wilyer Abreu. The ball bounced off the turf before Caminero scored the winning run, giving Palacios his second career walk-off hit and ending the Rays’ 0-for-33 stretch with runners in scoring position against Boston.
“Just praying it drops. That’s all you’re doing. You’re just praying it drops, and it did,” Palacios said.
Tampa Bay Rays extend American League East lead
The victory was the Tampa Bay Rays’ seventh in their last eight games and their third walk-off win of their final regular-season homestand at Tropicana Field. The win increased the Rays’ American League East lead to five games with eight games remaining at the time of the report.
The crowd of 27,402 saw Tampa Bay record its American League-leading 39th come-from-behind win of the season. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Rays had not recorded three walk-off wins in one homestand since Sept. 20-25, 2019.
“We’re just relentless. No matter what’s going on in the game, we always feel like we have a chance to win. Three walk-offs is amazing, and we’re just going to continue to do what we do,” Palacios said.
“It’s very encouraging. It’s a good feeling. You want to get as many reps at that as possible, because we know the games that we’re going to continue playing this year are going to be against good teams and in tight ballgames,” Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash said.
Palacios delivers in another key situation
The Rays had two outs in the ninth inning with Caminero on third base and Chandler Simpson on second. Both reached on singles against Garrett Whitlock, and a passed ball moved Simpson to second.
Palacios fell behind 1-2 before lifting a high sinker into open space in right field. The hit capped a month in which he batted .297 with a .395 on-base percentage, a .730 slugging percentage, five home runs and 14 RBIs.
Palacios had 53 RBIs for the season, ranking fourth on the Rays behind Caminero, Jonathan Aranda and Yandy Diaz. He also had 28 RBIs with two outs, including 24 with two outs and runners in scoring position, more than any other player on the team.
“I don’t put extra pressure on it. I just have the same approach that I usually do, and then sometimes it’s not going to work out — and today it did,” Palacios said.
Peralta and Tampa Bay defense keep game tied
Freddy Peralta allowed one run in 5 2/3 innings for Tampa Bay. His fastball averaged 96.4 mph, which was 2.2 mph above his season-long average, and he had a 0.94 ERA and 0.70 WHIP in five starts since Aug. 26.
Jonathan Aranda hit a game-tying home run off Brayan Bello in the fourth inning. Kevin Kelly, Cam Booser, Cole Sulser and Bryan Baker kept the game tied in relief.
The Rays also made key defensive plays late. Nick Fortes threw out Caleb Durbin attempting to steal third base in the ninth inning, and Caminero retired Isiah Kiner-Falefa after Jarren Duran hit a two-out triple.
“All these games matter a ton, and we’ve done a really good job of just staying true to ourselves and meeting the moment. We’ve done a really good job, and hopefully we close things out here soon,” Caminero said through interpreter Kevin Vera.
FSB Take
The Tampa Bay Rays combined a strong start from Peralta, scoreless relief work, late defense and Palacios’ timely hit to secure another close victory. The win strengthened Tampa Bay’s position in the American League East and added a third walk-off finish to its final regular-season homestand at Tropicana Field.
Source: Original report