LDN - Sports

Morrison's walk helps Rays outlast Mariners

[June 16, 2016] ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Rays first baseman Logan Morrison was tired enough after Wednesday's 3-2 win over the Seattle Mariners in 13 innings that he didn't want to stand, but he could still appreciate the outcome.

"It's awesome," said Morrison, who drew a bases-loaded walk to score Logan Forsythe, who had tripled to start the rally. "Winning's way better than losing. The bullpen did a great job keeping us tied up, and we were able to bust through."

The Rays left with an injury scare, however, as third baseman Evan Longoria was pinch-hit for in the 13th after experiencing tightness in his forearm during his at-bat in the 11th. There was no immediate word on the severity of the injury.

The Rays (31-32) have won three straight and five of six games, while the Mariners (34-31) have now lost five of six.

Tampa Bay had been hitless since the eighth inning when Forsythe ripped a shot down the right-field line and made it clear to third. After reliever Mike Montgomery (2-3) hit Tim Beckham, he then walked pinch-hitter Taylor Motter to load the bases.

Morrison reached a full count and walked on a close pitch to end the four hour, 38-minute marathon, which was Tampa Bay's longest game of the season in terms of innings and time. Morrison's walk also ended a game when the Rays stranded a season-high 18 and was 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position.

"I thought our bullpen was outstanding," Mariners manager Scott Servais said. "Monty tried to stay in and battle, just didn't make pitches when he needed to."

Before Tampa Bay pushed across the winning run, it loaded the bases with two outs in the 11th but Steve Cishek retired Morrison on an inning-ending groundout.

The Rays got 6.1 innings of scoreless relief from Ramirez, closer Alex Colome and relievers Xavier Cedeno and Matt Andriese (6-0).

"Offensively, that's about as much as our offense has been shut down for an extended period in any game," Servais said. "They won the game. I don't know if they played so much better, but they got the key at-bats when it mattered."

Rays starter Drew Smyly had his best start since April, striking out a career-high 12 batters and holding Seattle to two runs on four hits in his 6.2 innings.

"The story's the bullpen -- they held it down," Smyly said. "They gave us a chance to win and I'm glad we came out on top."

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The Rays got a scare in the seventh, as Erasmo Ramirez relieved him and gave up a double to Chris Iannetta and a single to Leonys Martin on his first two pitches, but got out of the inning with a groundout by Nori Aoki.

Tampa Bay had runners reach base on an error and single in the eighth to set up first and third with one out against reliever Joaquin Benoit, but Curt Casali struck out, and outfielder Jaff Decker popped out to second on the first pitch in his Rays debut.

Seattle had two on in the ninth, after a two-out walk and single, but Colome got Ketel Marte to ground out to shortstop.

Neither team had a hit in the 10th, with both teams successfully working around a hitter with an intentional walk. Nick Vincent, pitching for the second day in a row, had 2.2 innings of scoreless, hitless relief.

Tampa Bay tied the game in the sixth.

Longoria chased Seattle starter Nathan Karns with a leadoff double and scored on Corey Dickerson's single off Vidal Nuno.

Karns pitched well against his former team, allowing two runs and four hits in five-plus innings.

Seattle held a 2-0 lead on Nelson Cruz's two-run home run in the fourth inning. The Rays scored their first run in the bottom of the inning on Dickerson's sacrifice fly.

NOTES: With RF Steven Souza nursing a sore left hip after diving to attempt a catch on a line drive Tuesday night, the Rays made a roster move, designating LHP Dana Eveland for assignment and selecting OF Jaff Decker from Triple-A Durham. Decker, 26, was hitting .233 with five home runs and 13 stolen bases for Durham. The Rays will have another move after Wednesday's game, anticipating the promotion of LHP Blake Snell, who will start Thursday's game. ... Starting Wednesday, the Mariners have three straight games against left-handers and four of their next five. Seattle was 9-12 against lefty starters entering Wednesday.

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