The Tampa Bay Rays scored two runs on one hit and three walks in the eighth inning to beat the Cincinnati Reds 2-1 in the rubber match of a three-game series on Sunday in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Reds starter Hunter Greene limited the Rays to a pair of singles over seven scoreless innings before Fernando Cruz (3-8) entered in the eighth inning with a 1-0 lead.
After Tampa Bay loaded the bases with one out, Cruz struck out Josh Lowe before Jose Caballero scored the tying run on a wild pitch when the ball bounced away on Amed Rosario’s third strike.
Lucas Sims replaced Cruz and walked Richie Palacios on five pitches to score Brandon Lowe and give the Rays the lead.
Garrett Cleavinger (7-2) pitched a scoreless inning for the win. Pete Fairbanks worked around a two-out single in the ninth for his 20th save.
Elly De La Cruz had three hits and had four stolen bases for Cincinnati, which has lost six of its past nine games. De La Cruz leads the majors with 55 stolen bases.
The loss spoiled another impressive outing for Greene, who has allowed a total of two runs over his past five starts covering 31 2/3 innings.
Cincinnati scored its lone run in the second inning against Tampa Bay opener Shawn Armstrong.
Stuart Fairchild reached safely on a throwing error with one out, moved to second on Santiago Espinal’s single, and scored on Austin Wynns’ two-out single. Espinal was thrown out at home on the play.
Armstrong allowed one unearned run on three hits over two innings. Five Tampa Bay relievers combined for seven scoreless innings.
Greene retired his first 14 batters before Richie Palacios drew a two-out walk in the fifth inning. After Jonny DeLuca was hit by a pitch, Ben Rortvedt flied out.
De La Cruz began the sixth inning by making the defensive play of the game with a sliding, backhanded catch on Taylor Walls’ fly ball to shallow left field.
Two batters later, Brandon Lowe recorded the Rays’ first hit with a single to right field. Greene then hit Paredes with a pitch before striking out Josh Lowe.