ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. _ The Rays aren't making it easy. That's for sure.
But they're getting it done.
And that's what matters.
For the third straight time, their game came down to their last at-bat in extra innings.
And for the third straight time they pulled it out.
Nate Lowe hit a two-run walk-off homer in the 11th to give them a wild 5-4 win over the Red Sox Saturday night before an announced 18,179. Travis d'Arnaud opened the inning with a double after the Red Sox had gone ahead on a two-out Mitch Moreland homer off Diego Castillo.
The win improved the Rays to 92-63.
Wednesday, the Rays rallied to tie in the ninth off Dodgers star closer Kanley Jansen then won it in the 11th. Friday, they bounced back after their closer, Emilio Pagan, blew a two-run lead and walked it off in the 11th on a single by Willy Adames.
Saturday, they went up 2-0 early and took a 3-1 lead to the eighth only to see an unexpected turn of events, as reliever Nick Anderson, so dominant since they acquired him July 31 from Miami, gave up a two-run game-tying homer.
Manager Kevin Cash said Saturday afternoon it felt like things were trending in the right direction.
"Very encouraging. This year has been encouraging for a long time. All summer they've performed," he said. Certainly with what's at stake right now they've shown the ability to kind of rise up to the occasion. These last two wins (Wednesday and Friday) have been big wins. A lot of back and forth, a lot of decisions, a lot of personnel playing big factors in it."
But, he also noted, "the other teams are winning, too, so we can't let up."
The Rays took a 2-0 lead in the third.
Austin Meadows slapped a leadoff single and Ji-Man Choi drew a one-out walk to get them started. D'Arnaud, who has delivered so many big hits, came through again with a single that scored Meadows and sent Choi to third. D'Arnaud moved to second on a ground out and the Rays loaded the bases when Matt Duffy was hit by a pitch.
Joey Wendle laced a liner that second baseman Marco Hernandez couldn't handle. Choi scored and d'Arnaud tried to follow him home, but was thrown out by right fielder Mookie Betts.
After three solid innings by Tyler Glasnow in his third start back from the injured list, the Rays moved on to their next rehabbing-in-a-race project, as Yonny Chirinos made his first appearance since being sidelined in early August by an inflamed middle finger.
Chirinos got off to a rough start, his second pitch hit out of the park by Xander Bogaerts. But Chirinos settled in after that and got the next three out to make a solid, albeit brief.
The Rays made it 3-1 in the seventh on a massive homer by Adames, an estimated 462 feet to center that struck the D-ring catwalk on the way down. It was Adames' 19th of the season, which is one short of his stated goal and equal with the most for a Rays shortstop, as Brad Miller had 19 in 2016.
The Rays brought in Anderson for the eighth, expecting his usual dominance.
But the game took an unexpected turn. Anderson got the first out, but then allowed a single to Mookie Betts and a homer to Rafael Devers that tied it 3-3.
The night started with the Rays getting another strong outing from Glasnow in his third start following a nearly four-month stint on the injured list due to a forearm strain.
Glasnow came out firing, hitting 99 mph several times per the stadium board, and worked three scoreless innings, striking out seven. Of some minor concern, he needed 52 pitches (38 strikes) to get there, which factored into him not starting the fourth.
In the three outings back, Glasnow has thrown two, three and three innings, throwing 41, 51 and 52 pitches. He has talked about being stretched out to full starter length, which is typically five-six innings and 90-100 pitches, for the playoffs, but that seems unlikely with only one more start in the interim.
