ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — In pushing Tyler Glasnow’s start back from Sunday to Tuesday, the Rays gambled that the long-term benefit of giving him two days of extra rest and reducing his workload wouldn’t be negated by the disruption to his routine.
Things worked out just fine Tuesday, with Glasnow delivering a strong outing as the Rays beat the Nationals 3-1.
Glasnow went seven strong innings, scattering six hits, striking out 11 while getting 27 swing-and-misses, improving his record to 5-2 and lowering his ERA to 2.57. The offense was a team effort, with Manuel Margot homering, and Mike Brosseau and Mike Zunino each knocking in a run. And reliever Ryan Thompson got them out of a huge jam in the eighth.
The Rays won for the 20th time in their past 24 games and improved their American League-best record to 39-23 — a season-high 16 games over .500 — before a Tropicana Field crowd of 7,173.
The Rays took the lead from the start.
Margot, who was 5-for-10 in his career against Nats starter Jon Lester, drilled the fifth pitch saw over the left-centerfield fence, his seventh career leadoff homer, first as a Ray.
The Nationals tied it in the third as Starlin Castro led off with a single, went to second on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Trea Turner.
The Rays had opportunities in each inning, chasing Lester in the fourth before scoring again in the fifth. Walks by Austin Meadows and Randy Arozarena off reliever Wander Suero set them up, and a Mike Brosseau blooper down the rightfield line that eluded Juan Soto on the bounce got them a run. A one-out single by Mike Zunino netted them the other.
The Nats rallied in the seventh, with a leadoff double by Josh Bell and a one-out single by Josh Harrison. But third-base coach Bob Henley’s decision to challenge leftfielder Arozarena’s arm proved a mistake, as Arozarena threw out Bell at the plate; the call was confirmed through a replay review.
And they threatened in the eighth as Victor Robles drew a leadoff walk from J.P. Feyereisen. Robles was forced at second on Kyle Schwarber’s grounder to second, but Schwarber was safe, and got to second, as Joey Wendle’s throw sailed wide of first. Feyereisen then walked Turner and Juan Soto to load the bases.
Manager Kevin Cash saw enough and summoned Thompson, who struck out Ryan Zimmerman and Josh Bell to end it.
