The Tampa Bay Rays (73-75) beat the Chicago Cubs (84-54) 5-4 on Saturday afternoon at Wrigley Field. The three game interleague series is now tied at a game apiece heading into the rubber match on Sunday.
The Cubs built a 3-0 lead thanks to a solo homer in the second and a two run fourth, but the Rays had an answer. The Rays got one run back in the fifth on a RBI groundout from Richie Palacios before getting a RBI double from Brandon Lowe and a RBI single from Jake Mangum to make it 3-3.
The Cubs then built a 4-3 lead thinks to a solo home run from Michael Busch in the seventh, but Junior Caminero hit his 43rd home run of the season in the eighth to tie the game 4-4. Then Nick Fortes hit a solo homer in the ninth to give the Rays a 5-4 lead, which would prove to be the final score.
Drew Rasmussen got the start and allowed three earned runs on four hits in five innings of work. Bryan Baker (4-4, 3.61) got the win of the bullpen, while Pete Fairbanks worked out of a jam in the ninth inning to earn his 266th save.
The Rays will go for the series win against the Cubs on Sunday afternoon. First pitch Sunday is scheduled for 2:20 PM - Chris Adams-Wall begins pregame coverage at 1:30 PM on 95.3 WDAE & AM 620, your Home of Rays Baseball.
COVER PHOTO COURTESY GETTY IMAGES