TAMPA, Fla. — Isaac Paredes hit a solo homer in the eighth inning and a two-run, two-out single in the ninth to send the Tampa Bay Rays to a 6-5 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday.
Ji-Man Choi and Vidal Bruján equalized with two-out walks before Jonathan Aranda’s hit single loaded the bases against David Bednar (3-2). Paredes then hit a liner on opposite field to the right for his single that ended the game.
Paredes put the Rays within one in eight with his team-leading 10th homer in his last 25 games.
Ralph Garza Jr. (1-2) worked two scoreless innings to win Tampa Bay’s fourth straight one-run game. It was also an 11th straight game decided by two runs or fewer by Ray’s record.
Jack Suwinski hit a triple homer for the Pirates. JT Brubaker allowed three runs and nine hits in six innings.
Jalen Beeks replaced Tampa Bay’s Corey Kluber with a sixth-place out. The left-hander passed Daniel Vogelbach and allowed Bligh Madris’ single, which hit an overhanging catwalk before Suwinski scored for his 12th homer.
Suwinski also made a deft catch along the short wall to the left on Luke Raley’s foul ball in the bottom of the sixth.
Kluber allowed two runs and five goals. He was coming off two losses as the right-hander gave up two carries and four hits over six innings in both starts.
Tampa Bay took a 3-2 lead after Randy Arozarena’s RBI double. Arozarena ended with four goals.
Bruján’s two-carry, two-out single in the first game gave the Rays a 2-0 lead.
Diego Castillo hit a homer and Bryan Reynolds hit an RBI single as the Pirates connected with 2 in the third. Castillo has gone deep five times in his last 11 games, including Friday night’s 4-3, 10-inning loss to the Rays.
TRAINING ROOM
Pirates: 3B Ke’Bryan Hayes missed his second straight game with a sore shoulder. He was injured in a plate collision while hitting the winning run in the 10th inning against the Chicago Cubs on Thursday.
Rays: Manager Kevin Cash is hoping INF Wander Franco (right quadriceps trunk) will return on Sunday after missing 23 games. … RHP Drew Rasmussen (left hamstring) could return to the rotation next week.
OTHER THINGS
First base umpire Angel Hernandez had his out call overruled against Brett Phillips’ grounder in the second inning after a video review. … shortstop Taylor Walls, who came in with .161 strokes, hit leadoff for the Rays and had two hits. … Denny McLain, the winner of the last 30 games of the major (31-6 with the Detroit Tigers in 1968), was at the game. … Madris had three goals.
NEXT
Pirates right-hander Roansy Contreras (2-1) and Rays left-hander Shane McClanahan (7-3) are Sunday’s starters. McClanahan is one of the top baseball players with a 1.81 ERA and 113 strikeouts.
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