ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Rays rallied twice Friday against the White Sox, but came up short in the end.
They lost, 7-5, in 11 innings in a tense opening game of a weekend series between two American League division leaders.
Tim Anderson, who hit a game-tying homer in the ninth, delivered again, singling in catcher Zack Collins, who started the 11th inning as the runner on second. Anderson went to third on catcher Mike Zunino’s third passed ball of the game, then scored on a grounder to third.
The loss was the first for the Rays after a four-game sweep of the Orioles, dropping their AL-best record to 75-48 and cutting their lead in the East over the Yankees to four games.
The Rays were down 4-2 going into the eighth inning of a game in which starter Michael Wacha pitched better, but not good enough.
Tampa Bay rallied for three to take take the lead.
The uprising started against relief ace Craig Kimbrel when Manuel Margot drew a leadoff walk, then stole second and went to third as the pitch bounced away. With two outs, the Sox switched to lefty Aaron Bummer. The Rays pinch-hit Randy Arozarena for Brandon Lowe, who walked.
Wander Franco got one run home with an infield bouncer that shortstop Anderson gloved but couldn’t make a play on. The Sox then walked DH Nelson Cruz to load the bases so Bummer could face lefty Austin Meadows. That worked out for the Rays, as Meadows, who earlier threw a runner out at the plate, delivered a two-run single.
But recently acquired reliever JT Chargois opened the ninth inning by giving up a homer to Anderson, who had another big night for the Sox.
Wacha gave the Rays a better start Friday.
Better than his previous three, when he allowed 18 runs and 30 hits over 14 innings. And better than his box score line showed, with four runs and eight hits over five innings.
Though Wacha gave up eight hits, it should be noted five of the first seven were singles on ground balls, at least one on a play that could have been made or scored an error. (A grounder by leadoff man Anderson that second baseman Lowe couldn’t handle was originally scored a hit, then changed to an error.) Also, two two-strike foul tips eluded Zunino, one leading to an RBI double. Wacha had a season high-matching nine strikeouts.
The White Sox, managed by Tampa-born Hall of Famer Tony La Russa, went ahead quickly. Anderson reached on the grounder to Lowe, then scored as Luis Robert, given an extra chance when Zunino couldn’t hang on to a 2-2 foul tip, laced a double to right.
The Rays tied it on one swing in the second inning, when Ji-Man Choi homered to left-center field off Sox starter Lucas Giolito.
The Sox scored three in the fifth to end Wacha’s night. Anderson got them started as he often does, singling, moving to second on a passed ball and third on a groundout, then scoring on ground ball to third by evading Zunino’s tag.
They got two more when Yoan Moncada, who settled in the Gulfport area after coming to the United States from Cuba, crushed a 1-1 Wacha changeup 423 feet to center for a two-run home run.
The Rays cut the lead to 4-2 in the sixth, as Margot tripled and Kevin Kiermaier followed with a just-deep-enough sac fly.
