ATLANTA — The Rays went through a lot, but they got the post-All-Star break portion of their schedule off to a good start Friday, rallying to beat the Braves, 7-6.
The Rays took an early lead off ex-mate Charlie Morton but failed to add on, fell behind in the fourth, rallied to tie in the eighth, then rallied to win in the 10th on a single by Austin Meadows, the Atlanta-area native playing for the first time at home.
Starting the inning with Brett Phillips as the runner on second, the Rays got a leadoff walk from Brandon Lowe, then a two-out single to right by Meadows off Jesse Chavez.
The Rays improved to 4-9 in extra innings, snapping a six-game losing streak. Only the Braves, now 2-7, and Dodgers (1-8) have a worse record in extra innings.
The loss improved the Rays to 54-37 and kept them 1 1/2 games behind the American League East-leading Red Sox.
Tampa Bay got off to a good start, scoring two runs in the second off Morton, but they should have gotten more before a Truist Park sellout crowd of 40,485.
The rally started with Meadows being hit by a pitch and All-Star Joey Wendle doubling. A single by Kevin Kiermaier scored one run, and a groundout by All-Star catcher Mike Zunino the other.
A walk by Taylor Walls gave the Rays two men on again. Pitcher Michael Wacha struck out, with not even a whiff of a bunt play. Brandon Lowe walked to load the bases, but Ji-Man Choi struck out on Morton’s 33rd pitch of the inning.
The Rays had another chance to extend their lead in the fourth after Zunino drew a one-out walk and Walls, who earlier made a dazzling defensive play at short, doubled. The Rays let Wacha hit, and he struck out again. Lowe then popped out.
Wacha then took the mound and made it worse, allowing two home runs as the Braves grabbed a 3-2 lead. His first mistake was a leadoff walk to Ozzie Albies, his next a 2-2 cutter that Austin Riley drove over the center-field wall.
An out later, Wacha made another mistake, a 2-0 fastball that Dansby Swanson knocked out to center for a 3-2 lead.
Choi briefly got the Rays even, the lefty swinger opening the fifth with a drive that just cleared the wall in the left-field corner.
But the Braves came right back. Abraham Almonte’s leadoff single chased Wacha, then All-Star Freddie Freeman greeted reliever J.P. Feyereisen with a blast to right that put the Braves up 5-3.
Morton left after six innings with a typically solid outing, allowing the three runs on six hits, walking three, striking out eight, throwing 107 pitches, 69 for strikes. The Rays had seen him do this plenty during his two years with them, bend but not break.
The Rays got one back in the seventh as rookie Wander Franco snapped an 0-for-13 skid with a liner into the right-field corner that he hustled into a one-out triple, followed by a sac fly from Meadows.
Two walks from lefty A.J. Minter and a hit batter by Luke Jackson followed, but Walls grounded out.
The Braves got a run right back in their seventh to extend the lead to 6-4.
The Rays replied with two in the eighth to pull even. Lowe singled with one out, and Franco singled off Chris Martin to get them going. Meadows laced a single to score one, then Wendle hustled to beat the throw on a high bouncer to short to get the second run home.
