Resilient Rays rally repeatedly to beat Angels in 13 innings

ST. PETERSBURG — The way the Rays rallied in the ninth inning Tuesday was impressive enough.

Having been held to one single on the night and down to their last out, they rapped three consecutive hits, singles by Harold Ramirez and Amed Rosario, then a two-run triple by Jose Caballero to tie the Angels and send the game to extra innings.

And that was just the start of things.

The Rays came from behind three more times — in the 10th and 11th innings to tie — then scored twice in the 13th for a 7-6 walkoff victory on Rosario’s infield single that to this point is the high point in their inconsistent start (10-8) to the season.

“You find out a little bit about your club early on in the season,” manager Kevin Cash said. “We’re grinding through things right now for sure. And these guys, they’re staying positive. There’s a lot of reasons they could be getting frustrated with maybe the results that they’re not getting at the plate or on the mound.

“But to win a game like that, you take that as a big moment early on in the season.”

There were so many big moments that Cash doubled back to his office to get his lineup card on the way to his post-game media session so he could keep it all straight.

Most important was the last one, Rosario bouncing a ball toward third with the bases loaded and easily beating Anthony Rendon’s throw as Richie Palacios scored the game winner.

“I was trying to put something in play right there, and I was running as hard as I can because that’s what I do — just work hard and play hard,” said Rosario, via team interpreter Manny Navarro. “I knew as soon as I hit it I was going to be safe. I knew it. That’s all I can control, so at that point, that’s all I was trying to do is just make it to first base.”

Rosario was in position to win the game because with two outs, Palacios doubled off Carson Fulmer to score Rene Pinto, who started the inning on second, with the tying run. The Angels intentionally walked Isaac Paredes and unintentionally put on Ramirez to bring up Rosario.

“Sometimes you’ve got to just find a way,” Cash said. “Richie came up with a really big knock with two outs. ... Rosie, you’re confident he’s going to put a ball in play for sure.”

Most dramatic was Jose Siri’s leaping catch at the centerfield wall as part of Jason Adam’s escape act in the 11th.

After the teams traded runs in the 10th, the Angels threatened to break the game open as Adam loaded the bases by hitting Zach Neto and walking Rendon, bringing up Mike Trout, the three-time MVP who has long tormented the Rays, with no outs. Adam got ahead 1-2, Trout fouled off three pitches, then Adam got him to make weak contact on a fastball and pop out to second.

But Taylor Ward followed with a 411-foot drive to center that Siri raced back for and jumped into the wall to catch, with Jo Adell tagging up for only run the Angels would get that inning, as Adam got Nolan Schanuel to fly out.

“(Siri’s catch was) the play of the day,” Cash said. “I think you can argue that won the game, gave us a chance. When you have a game like that, you’ve got a lot of people that are doing big things to help you kind of tie it up, take a lead.”

Siri, who was 0-for-5 with four strikeouts, said the catch was a matter of concentration.

“Of course I thought I was going to catch it,” he said, via Navarro. “I knew it wasn’t hard enough to be out. I knew I’d get there so I knew just to run to the fence as fast as I can and I was able to get there with some time without having to really jump too much.”

There were, as Cash said, many other big moments in what was the longest game in the majors this season.

Caballero’s two-out, two-run triple in the ninth. Pinto getting down a bunt — a play the Rays don’t often use — to move Siri to third at the start of the 10th, putting him in position to score when reliever Jose Cisnero gloved Yandy Diaz’s comebacker and threw wildly past first, evening the game after Pete Fairbanks’ wild pitch put the Angels up. Paredes battling through 13 Cisnero pitches to single in the 11th, setting up a run-scoring double-play grounder by Ramirez. Reliever Phil Maton, who made a mess in Monday’s loss, working a 1-2-3 12th.

“That’s just the resiliency of the guys in this clubhouse,” Adam said. “Top to bottom, it doesn’t matter.”

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