Tampa Bay built a mountain of runs early, and Colorado spent the rest of the night trying to climb it. The Rays scored two in the first and four in the second, and though the Rockies clawed back with four runs in the ninth, it wasn't enough, falling 13-9 at Coors Field.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TB | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 15 | 0 |
| COL | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 15 | 2 |
Junior Caminero was at the center of the outburst. He finished 2-for-5 with two home runs, three runs scored and three RBIs. His first blast came in the first inning, a two-run shot to right center that also brought home Aranda and gave Tampa Bay a lead it would never relinquish. He added a second homer in the fourth, a 442-foot drive to left center, extending the margin to 8-1 at the time.
The decisive move came in the very first at-bat of the scoring column. Caminero's opening-inning homer, with Aranda aboard, turned a scoreless game into a 2-0 Tampa Bay lead and set the tone for everything that followed. The Rays kept piling on in the second, when Walls singled home Palacios and Simpson, Díaz added a sacrifice fly to score Piper, and Aranda singled in Walls to make it 6-0 before the inning was over.
Michael Lorenzen took the loss for Colorado, allowing 7 runs (7 earned) on 7 hits and 3 walks in 3.0 innings, unable to make it out of the third before the Rays had built their cushion. Tanner Gordon followed and settled things down somewhat, but still allowed 6 runs (4 earned) on 8 hits over 6.0 innings. Colorado's offense fought back with power of its own — Ezequiel Tovar went 4-for-4 with a home run, three runs scored and an RBI, and Mickey Moniak added a two-run homer in the eighth. The Rockies pushed four runs across in the ninth, capped by sacrifice flies from Goodman and Moniak, but the deficit built in the first two innings proved too much to overcome.
Ian Seymour picked up the win for Tampa Bay, striking out 9 over 6.0 innings while allowing 2 runs (2 earned), improving to 8-3 on the season with a 4.27 ERA. The Rays, who improved to 66-46 and sit atop their division, snapped nothing dramatic with the win but extended their momentum with a second straight strong offensive showing. Colorado dropped to 45-68, its fifth-place standing unchanged, as the losing streak reached one game.