Margot's 10th Inning Hit Gives Rays Season Sweep of Marlins, Sets Up Showdown

It was a huge win on many, many fronts for the Rays. These are all numbers that matter as we turn the calendar to September.

• Dominant starter Drew Rasmussen was amazing again, pitching six innings and allowing just one run and four hits. For the month, he was 3-1 in six starts with a nifty 1.57 ERA. He allowed just six runs and 19 hits in his six starts covering 34 1/3 innings.
• The Rays finished August with a league-best 18-9 record, by far their best month of the season, and a three-game winning streak;
• The swept the season series with their in-state rivals, going 4-0 against the Marlins to clinch the Citrus Series for the fourth year in a row and 11th time in the past 15 years. They have won seven straight games against Miami.;
• They raised their record to 72-57, and are 15 games over .500 for the first time all season;
• They are now just six games behind the New York Yankees in the American League East race after the Yanks lost to the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday. It's the closest the Rays have been to the top spot since June 3, a long three months ago.

And now we move into September. The Rays get another day off on Thursday, but then will start a huge series with the Yankees on Friday in St. Petersburg. New York has been in a free-fall, going just 10-18 in August. The Rays have gained 8 1/2 games on the Yankees since the start of the month.

Rasmussen and Marlins starter Trevor Rogers were both terrific and the game was still scoreless through five innings. The Rays finally got on the board in the sixth, when third baseman Yandy Diaz led off the inning with a double. Harold Ramirez, who is hitting .331 and had three more hits Wednesday, drove him in with a two-out double down the left field line.

The Marlins answered back quickly, though, when Rasmussen made his only mistake. Miami third baseman Jon Berti hit a 1-2 pitch over the left-field wall for a home run, just his third of the year in 255 at-bats.

It stayed tied through regulation, despite the fact that the Rays had plenty of chances to score. In the eighth inning, Jose Siri and Diaz led off with singles, but then Margot popped up trying to bunt — “part of the reason we don’t bunt,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said — and then Randy Arozarena hit into a double play.

 In the ninth, Ramirez had a lead-off single but got stranded.

The Rays' bullpen was solid, too, not giving up a run in four innings, though there were some anxious moments. Colin Poche gave up a single and a walk in the eighth inning, but got two straight ground balls to end the threat. In the ninth, Jason Adam walked two batters, but got a ground ball double play to send the game into extras.

After Margot's single gave the Rays the lead in the 10th, Jalen Beeks had a 1-2-3 inning to get the save, his second of the year. Adam (2-2) got the win. Margot, who had shifted to center in the 10th, made the huge catch in center, crashing into wall but then getting up quickly to get the ball in. Former Ray Joey Wendle grounded out to end the game.

“The catch was outstanding for a guy who wasn’t out there to begin with and just shifted over,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “We’re so fortunate to have so many guys who can cover a lot of ground and make pretty spectacular plays.

“That was definitely a big win for us. Our pitching was just outstanding again for us,” Cash said. “‘(Rasmussen)set the tone. Feel crummy that he gave up that home run and we weren’t able to get more for him to get a win. He deserved it. But then the bullpen came in and did their thing.”

The Rays finished 12-8 in interleague play this season, with a lot of ups and downs. They swept Miami (4-0), St. Louis (3-0) and Pittsburgh (3-0), but were swept by Cincinnati (0-3) and Milwaukee (0-4). They were 2-1 against the Chicago Cubs,  the only matchup that wasn't a sweep.