Rays 9, White Sox 12: So many comebacks

Well, hey, it’s Sunday, time for a Rays afternoon game. Let’s see how things went in Chicago, shall we?

Mike Clevinger was on the mound for the White Sox, and here’s a reminder of what kind of person Clevinger is. And one more. He gave up only one single to Ramirez in the inning, and no runs scored. In the bottom of the first the White Sox drew first blood against Drew Rasmussen as Haseley got a leadoff single, then Vaughn singled, and then Haseley was brought home with a sac fly from Sheets putting the Sox up 1-0.

Things went scoreless for each side through the second and third.

In the top of the fourth the Rays finally put themselves on the board. Walls hit a one-out home run, and immediately after he finished rounding the bags, Raley hit his own solo shot, giving the Rays their first lead of the day.

The bottom of the fourth and the entirety of the fifth were quiet on the scoreboard.

In the top of the sixth Walls got a leadoff single, then successfully stole second. Raley was hit by a pitch. Then Bethancourt grounded into a double play, but Walls advanced to third. Unfortunately the Rays left him stranded, which would come back to haunt them in short order. Bottom of the sixth Jimenez singled, then Grandal homered, giving the Sox the lead and chasing Rasmussen from the game. His final line for the day was 5.0 IP, 9 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, and 1 HR on 97 pitches. Not his best work. Kelly came on in relief (not to be confused with Kelly who came on in relief for the Sox in the top of the seventh). Kelly got the three outs needed to end the sixth with no additional damage.

Joe Kelly, or the “Other” Kelly, managed a 1-2-3 top of the seventh. Poche was on for the Rays in the bottom of the inning and very quickly started to have issues. Haseley got a one-out walk, Vaughn walked, and the pinch-hitter Robert Jr. was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Jimenez then singled to score Haseley. The Sox would need to settle for that one run, but it put them up 4-2.

Josh Lowe got a leadoff walk in the top of the eighth, then Parades singled. A fielding error then allowed Lowe to score and put the Rays within one run. Raley then homered for the second time in the game to bring in two runs and give the Rays back the lead. Bethancourt then hit a home run of his own. Manuel Margot was then hit by a pitch, which saw things get a little zesty between the teams. Margot successfully stole second. Brandon Lowe hit what should have been an easy flyout, but someone would have needed to catch it for that to be the case, so instead he got to second on a fielding error. No additional runs scored.

Bottom of the eighth saw Andrus reach with a double, then Haseley should have struck out, but instead a passed ball allowed him to safely reach first and Andrus scored.

The ninth was particularly interesting and also sort of brutal. Josh Lowe walked to lead things off, then Paredes singled. A Walls single brought Lowe home. Then a Bethancourt sac fly scored Paredes. The Rays were suddenly up 9-5 and it seemed like that should probably be a good enough lead in the top of the ninth.

But no.

Bottom of the ninth Beeks was on. Jimenez got a one-out single, then Grandal was hit by a pitch. Burger doubled, to score pinch-runner Benintendi. Colas hit a sac fly to score Grandal, then Andrus singled to score Burger. Sosa then singled, and that was it for Beeks, who gave way to Cleavinger. He then gave up a single to Haseley, scored Andrus. Tie game. Then Vaughn homered to bring in three more runs and just like that the White Sox walked it off, winning 12-9.

Final: White Sox 12, Rays 9