Tampa Bay Rays at Detroit Tigers

· Major League Baseball

Tampa Bay Rays

78-81, 36-42 Away

Final
3 - 4

Detroit Tigers

85-74, 42-36 Home

Tigers rally late to move closer to playoffs with 4-3 win over Rays

“We do believe in what we can accomplish,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “Whether that's magic, whether that's momentum, whether that’s mojo, whether that's vibe, whatever, we love it and we want more of it.”

Detroit, which has won five straight, is tied with Kansas City for the second and third American League wildcard spots, 2 1/2 games ahead of the Minnesota Twins.

“We're bringing the energy right now,” said rookie Colt Keith, who drove in two runs and scored another. “We have such a good team. I love this group.”

The Tigers trailed 3-2 with one out in the eighth, but Riley Greene singled off Garrett Cleavinger (7-5) and Matt Vierling drew a walk.

Keith tied the game with an RBI single, bringing up Malloy — the last position player on the Tigers bench — to pinch hit for Kerry Carpenter. He lifted a fly ball to medium center and Vierling easily beat Jose Siri's throw.

“They have four lefties in their bullpen, and we knew (Malloy) was going to hit against one of them,” Hinch said. “He was waiting all day for that specific spot.”

Beau Brieske (4-4) got the win with two innings of relief. Jason Foley pitched the ninth for his 27th save.

Rays starter Tyler Alexander allowed four hits and struck out six without walking a batter. He has a 2.00 ERA in two career outings against Detroit, where he spent the first five seasons of his career.

The Rays took a 2-0 lead in the third. Ben Rortvedt and Taylor Walls singled with one out and scored on Brandon Lowe's two-out base hit.

Walls tripled with one out in the fifth and scored on Casey Mize's wild pitch.

The Tigers got on the board in the sixth when Hunter Bigge walked Vierling with two outs before Keith hit an RBI triple. Carpenter followed with a pinch-hit single to make it 3-2.

“That's the last team in baseball that you want to give any momentum,” Cash said. “They are doing a lot of good things right now.”

Kevin Kelly pitched a perfect seventh, extending his scoreless streak to 23 1/3 innings over 25 outings.

Rays: Travel to Boston to start a weekend series with the Red Sox, needing three wins to finish 81-81. RHP Taj Bradley (7-11, 4.30) will start Friday's opener against RHP Nick Pivetta (6-11, 4.21).

Tigers: Remain at home for three games against the White Sox, knowing that two wins will clinch the franchise's first postseason spot in 10 years. They have not announced their rotation for the final series, since it will depend on the playoff race.

How can I watch Tampa Bay Rays vs. Detroit Tigers?

TV Channel: Rays at Tigers 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.TV.
Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Matchup Prediction

Tigers: 65.9%

Rays: 34.1%

*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

	9th Inning	Siri struck out swinging.
	9th Inning	J. Lowe struck out swinging.
	9th Inning	Carlson flied out to center.
	9th Inning	Foley relieved Brieske
	9th Inning	Malloy in left field.
	9th Inning	Pérez in right field.

Statistics

TB		DET
1	Games Played	1
1	Team Games Played	1
0	Hit By Pitch	0
12	Ground Balls	7
9	Strikeouts	10
2	Runs Batted In	4
0	Sacrifice Hit	0
7	Hits	8
0	Stolen Bases	0
0	Walks	2
0	Catcher Interference	0
3	Runs	4
0	Ground Into Double Play	0
0	Sacrifice Flies	1
34	At Bats	31
0	Home Runs	0
0	Grand Slam Home Runs	0
9	Runners Left On Base	7
1	Triples	1
0	Game Winning RBIs	1
0	Intentional Walks	0
1	Doubles	1
13	Fly Balls	15
0	Caught Stealing	0
146	Pitches	134
0	Games Started	0
0	Pinch At Bats	3
0	Pinch Hits	1
0.0	Player Rating	0.0
1	Is Qualified	1
0	Is Qualified In Steals	0
10	Total Bases	11
34	Plate Appearances	34
0.0	Projected Home Runs	0.0
2	Extra Base Hits	2
1.8	Runs Created	3.5
.206	Batting Average	.258
.000	Pinch Hit Average	.333
.294	Slugging Percentage	.355
.088	Secondary Average	.161
.206	On Base Percentage	.294
.500	OBP Pct + SLG Pct	.649
0.9	Ground To Fly Ball Ratio	0.5
1.8	Runs Created Per 27 Outs	3.9
21.5	Batter Rating	28.5
0.0	At Bats Per Home Run	0.0
0.00	Stolen Base Percentage	0.00
4.29	Pitches Per Plate Appearance	3.94
.088	Isolated Power	.097
0.00	Walk To Strikeout Ratio	0.20
.000	Walks Per Plate Appearance	.059
-.118	Secondary Average Minus Batting Average	-.097
5.0	Runs Produced	8.0
0.7	Runs Ratio	1.0
0.3	Patience Ratio	0.4
0.3	Balls In Play Average	0.4
72.0	MLB Rating	78.5
0.0	Offensive Wins Above Replacement	0.0
0.0	Wins Above Replacement	0.0