The Tampa Bay Rays (55-37) defeated the Seattle Mariners (47-48) 7-2 on Friday night at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg. The Rays opened the final series before the All-Star Break - where they are celebrating the legacy Rays great Evan Longoria - with a win.
Chandler Simpson got the scoring started for the Rays with a RBI single in the third inning - Simpson went on to have a 3-for-4 game with a RBI and a run scored. Richie Palacios hit a solo homer in the fourth inning to make it 2-0 before Cole Young hit a solo homer for the Mariners in the fifth inning to pull within 2-1.
In the bottom of the fifth, Cedric Mullins and Victor Mesa both hit home runs to give the Rays a 4-1 lead. Seattle got their second run in the sixth inning before the Rays got three in the seventh inning to turn the game into a blowout. In that seventh inning, Junior Caminero hit a two-run homer - his 28th of the season. Caminero finished the game 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored.
Nick Martinez (8-2, 2.55) got the win in his final start before the All-Star Game, in which he was named a reserve earlier in the day on Friday. He allowed two earned runs on four hits in five and one-third innings of work in which he struck out one and walked one.
The Rays and Mariners now meet in the middle game of the three-game series on Saturday afternoon. Griffin Jax (4-6, 3.60) is scheduled to start for the Rays and face Logan Gilbert (7-5, 3.19) for the Mariners. First pitch Saturday is scheduled for 4:10 PM - Chris Adams-Wall begins pregame coverage at 3:30 PM on 95.7 WDAE & AM 620, your Home of Rays Baseball.
COVER PHOTO COURTESY GETTY IMAGES