After the final out Friday, Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh caught up with Matt Brash just in front of the mound and reached over the reliever’s shoulder to drop the game ball into his glove.
Raleigh easily could have kept the ball for himself after hitting a three-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, giving the Mariners a 3-2 victory against visiting Tampa Bay in the opener of a three-game series.
The set continues Saturday in Seattle.
But Raleigh seemed to realize the importance of Brash’s effort. With closer Andres Munoz having pitched the previous two games, the Mariners needed someone else to step up. Brash struck out the side in order to record his second save of the season.
Brash, who missed all of last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, is 1-0 with a 1.20 ERA.
Because the Mariners trailed 2-0 in the bottom of the eighth, Brash had little time warm up.
“It was a little bit of a weird situation because we had two other guys throwing on the (bullpen) mound. I was kind of waiting and some runners got on and I kind of hopped on a mound. I got ready quick,” Brash told ROOT Sports. “I didn’t even really need any pitches with that atmosphere and that crowd, I felt like I was floating out there. I could’ve just went in there off the bench, I felt really good today.”
It was perhaps the highest-leverage situation Brash has faced in his comeback.
“When you’ve got the adrenaline pumping, it’s just different. I felt amazing. I didn’t even remember running to the mound. In was those situations in ‘23 a little bit, but missing last year, I hadn’t felt that in a while,” he said. “Closing games is always different. Throw in a playoff team going down the stretch and that homer, it made that moment special.”
Brandon Lowe and Junior Caminero homered and Drew Rasmussen pitched six scoreless innings for the Rays, who had a two-game winning streak snapped.
Rays reliever Griffin Jax allowed one-out singles to J.P. Crawford and Cole Young with one out in the eighth inning before Raleigh landed the decisive blow, his major league-leading 43rd homer of the season.
“They put together some big at-bats off Griffin and probably the wrong guy came up with a plate in Cal Raleigh,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “He’s putting together just a really special season. We’ve seen it from afar for the first half and it got us tonight.”
Saturday’s pitching matchup is set to feature a pair of right-handers in the Rays’ Joe Boyle (1-1, 2.30 ERA) and the Mariners’ Logan Evans (5-4, 4.30).
Boyle suffered a 7-5 loss to the New York Yankees on July 29 in his return to the rotation. He didn’t get a decision against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday despite allowing just three hits over five scoreless innings. Boyle made one relief appearance against the Mariners last season, throwing 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.
Evans is coming off a 5-4 victory against visiting Texas in which he gave up three runs in five innings. The rookie, who will be facing the Rays for the first time, is 3-0 with a 3.03 ERA at home.
–Field Level Media
