The Los Angeles Dodgers reached the end of their road trip with an 8:35 a.m. PT start time against the Tampa Bay Rays for an exclusive Peacock stream, and the series finale at Tropicana Field was a wild back-and-forth affair.
A slow response by Victor González to cover first base in the seventh inning resulted in a leadoff infield single that led to the Rays pushing across what held as the game-winning run in the Dodgers’ 11-10 loss.
It started with the Rays mounting a two-out rally in the bottom of the first inning to take a 1-0 lead. The Dodgers responded in the second inning with back-to-back home runs from Chris Taylor and Max Muncy on consecutive pitches.
Josh Fleming then walked Miguel Vargas and gave up consecutive base hits to Miguel Rojas and Trayce Thompson. The RBI base hit by Thompson ended an 0-for-39 drought and propelled him to a 3-for-3 day.
But just as quickly as the Dodgers took a lead, Gavin Stone gave it right back. He was hurt by Taylor’s misplay in left field that resulted in the ball bouncing over his head for a leadoff triple.
Luke Raley followed with an RBI double, and the Rays went on to add five more runs in the inning.
Stone wound up coming out after just two innings in what was the shortest start of his young career. He didn’t issue any walks but was punished by living in the strike zone for seven runs on 10 hits.
Freddie Freeman started the Dodgers’ rally in the third inning with a gift double to deep center field that popped out of Jose Siri’s glove. That extended Freeman’s hitting streak to 17 games and was one of his two doubles on the day.
J.D. Martinez immediately took advantage with an RBI single, and the Dodgers scored another run on a Brandon Lowe throwing error. Sacrifice flies by Miguel Vargas and Miguel Rojas capped off the four-run inning and tied the game.
Yandy Díaz’s RBI single put Tampa Bay back ahead in the bottom of the third inning, and Isaac Paredes added onto that with a solo home run in the fourth and Raley’s RBI groundout made it 10-7.
The Dodgers erased another deficit behind solo home runs from Thompson, Martinez and Taylor. Thompson slugged his in the fifth inning, and Martinez and Taylor combined for back-to-back solo shots in the sixth.
That proved all for naught as Raley beat González to first base when Freeman stayed back on a chopper to open the bottom of the seventh. After Díaz’s single put runners at the corners, Wander Franco’s groundout brought Raley in to prove to be the difference against his former team.
Sunday marked the first time since Opening Day of 2006 that the Dodgers scored at least 10 runs but lost in a nine-inning game.
Dodgers lose Max Muncy to hamstring injury
En route to finishing 4-6 on their road trip, the Dodgers saw Muncy leave Sunday’s game early because of a left hamstring cramp.
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