Rays outlast Marlins in Miami marathon, win 9-8 in 11 innings

[image-1]In the end, the game came down to roster depth. Both managers were given an Old Mother Hubbard night, exhausting their respective bullpens. The Rays’ Joe Maddon elected to give starter Shields an inning of work before putting in reliever Lance Cormier, who screwed the proverbial pooch in the 11th inning, allowing two singles, a walk, and a double after a Reid Brignac error to turn a 9-5 sure-win into a 9-8 sphincter-clencher. He brought Mike Stanton, Ronny Paulino, and Wes Helms around to score. But Maddon still had hero-of-the-day Andy Sonnanstine in the cupboard. An evening after throwing a great game in relief of the floundering Matt Garza, Sonny struck out Brian Barden and Anibel Sanchez before Ben Zobrist made a gorgeous over-the-shoulder catch on a long fly by Dan Uggla to end the game.

The evening started as a pitching duel between towering righties Jeff Niemann and Chris Volstad. Niemann had a great outing, giving up two runs on three hits through six innings. He really only threw two bad pitches, solo home runs to both Coghlan and Hanley Ramirez. The Rays looked like a different a team Saturday night, on several levels. They didn't exactly shell the Marlins' pitching staff, but they had smarter at-bats and took better advantage of the opportunities they created than in previous games. Conversely, they committed several uncharacteristic errors that cost them what should have been an easy, regulation win. Perhaps it simply took eight innings for the elephant-call din in Miami to get to them. Whatever the case, this game has huge take-aways. This team was able to overcome their own poor performance and win in spite of themselves around hot and cold pitching from practically the entire pitching staff.

This game had too many twists to allow one to find a definitive turning point. B.J. Upton's smart at-bat in the 11th to walk in Carl Crawford definitely ranks as a game-changer. The Marlins' Jorge Sosa had as bad an evening in the top of the inning as Cormier had in the bottom, walking in Crawford and Longoria when pitching to Upton and Brignac. Scott Strickland gave up a two-run single to Jason Bartlett to bring Ben Zobrist and Upton around,  with B.J. scoring what would end up being the winning run.

[image-2]The night that saw Sonnanstine get his first career save and Shields his first relief win also bore witness to a club coming together after having fallen apart recently. That 2008 perseverance came out Saturday night and fans can only hope that spirit survives for a stretch and that this team can get back in a winning way. Rays' ace David Price takes the mound in Sunday's 1:10 p.m. game as the team attempts to split the Citrus Series with the Marlins and possibly gain some ground in the American League East race. The rival New York Yankees won in advance of Saturday's game and the Boston Red Sox came out on top in their outing as well, so Tampa's win simply allowed the to stay on pace. Tomorrow will help decide which direction this team is headed.