FIRST INNING
The all-important first inning is underway and no off to a good start as Grady Sizemore leads off with his sixth homer of the season. Probably not the start Joe Maddon was looking for when I asked him about it pre-game. He gets a strikeout, but then allows a single. He walks Jhonny Perralta with two outs putting two runners aboard. Mark DeRosa singles to make it 2-0 Indians. Wow, the first inning struggles continue. “Mr. Automatic Out” BJ Upton lived up to his new nickname, popping up to left. Nothing doing from Carl Crawford or Evan Longoria, as they both strike out. 2-0 Indians
SECOND INNING
Jamey Carroll singles to left with one out. The Indians are putting good wood on Kazmir’s pitches so far tonight. That is not a good sign. Kazmir strikes out Asdrubal Cabrera to end the inning. Carlos Pena led off trying to bunt with the shift on, but he bunted it back to Anthony Reyes, and he was thrown out at first. Willy Aybar and Gabe Gross go quietly to end the inning. 2-0 Indians
THIRD INNING
Victor Martinez leads off with a single to right. Kazmir throws a wild pitch, advancing Martinez to second. Shin-Soo Choo walks on four pitches, none of which were close. Peralta singles to load the bases with nobody out. DeRosa walks, giving the Indians a 3-0 lead. This us a huge nightmare for the Rays, and a single by Ryan Garko up the middle makes it worse. 4-0 Indians with still nobody out. Matt LaPorta hits a shot to the fence in right, but Gabe Gross saves a bases clearing hit with a crashing catch. Still, a runner scores from third and its 5-0 with now one out. BJ Upton throws out DeRosa at home on a single, and Indians manager Eric Wedge gets ejected arguing the call. The inning ends with far less damage than could’ve been incurred. The Rays go 1-2-3 to end the third. 5-0 Indians
FOURTH INNING
Cabrera walks to lead off the inning. Kaz has walked four already tonight. Choo hits a two-run homer, his fifth of the season, and it’s now 7-0 Indians. Peralta just misses going back-to-back, instead doubling off the top of the wall in left. Sadly, that’ll be the end of the night for Kazmir. Lance Cormier now into the game, and Kazmir is hearing from some in the crowd. The inning ends with the Indians ahead 7-0. Upton doubles to left for the first hit of the game for the Rays. Upton steals third for his 10th steal of the season. Looking at it, there is a pretty good crowd at the Trop tonight. Kazmir cannot use the fans as an excuse this time. Evan Longoria walks, putting runners at the corners with only one out. Pena singles to right, scoring Upton. Longoria also scores as Choo’s throw to third gets past Peralta for an E9. Aybar blooped a single to center, scoring Pena. Here come the Rays. The inning ends with the Rays now trailing 7-3.
FIFTH INNING
With two outs, Sizemore singles on a bunt to the pitcher. Cormier’s throw pulled Pena off the bag, but the ruling was that Sizemore beat the throw anyway. He then steals second easily, right before his base hit was taken away and changed to an E1. Upton makes a sliding catch to end the inning. The Rays go quietly in the fifth and still trail by four. 7-3 Indians
SIXTH INNING
Cormier gets Martinez swinging to start the inning, but then walks Choo. The inning ends with no damage. Crawford leads off with a single to right-center. CC then steals his league-leading 23rd base, without a throw from Martinez. Longoria singles to center, scoring Crawford. Tony Sipp replaces Reyes for the Indians with one out. Longoria advances to second on a wild pitch. Aybar walks, so now Ben Zobrist will pinch-hit with two runners on. Zobrist hits a fielder’s choice, but the throw from second gets away from first, an error on the second baseman, scoring Longoria. Zobrist steals second, but is stranded there. 7-5 Indians
SEVENTH INNING
Troy Percival is now in the game for the Rays. This is an interesting spot to use Percy. I guess he can’t blow a lead since the Rays are losing. Garko strikes out to lead the inning. Percival gets the Indians 1-2-3. Bartlett leads off with a double down the line in left. The Rays could’ve just folded when they trailed 7-0, but they’ve battled. JB moves to third on the sac bunt by Dioner Navarro. Bartlett then scores on a wild pitch. Upton singles to right with one out. The tying run is at first. CC lines a single to left. There are two runners on for the major’s RBI leader. Rafael Betancourt has the task of facing Longoria. The runners execute a double-steal and are now both in scoring position. Crawford has 24 steals on the year. Longo strikes out swinging for the second out. Pena is walked intentionally to face Aybar, who pops to short on the first pitch to end the inning. 7-6 Indians
EIGHTH INNING
JP Howell is now pitching for the Rays. Howell upsets Martinez with a bit of a brushback, and then he grounds out to end the inning. Zobrist hits an 0-1 pitch out to right field to tie the game. It was his seventh homer of the year. Matt is super excited right now. Akinori Iwamura walks with nobody out. Bartlett strikes out for the first out. He should’ve maybe been bunting there, but maybe not with Navi on deck. Aki gets thrown out trying to steal for the second out. The inning ends but the Rays have tied it up. 7-7
NINTH INNING
Choo leads off with a single off Howell. Dan Wheeler is coming in now for the Rays. After a sacrifice bunt, DeRosa grounds out to Longoria, holding Choo at second. Garko walks to put two runners on with two outs. LaPorta flies out to deep center to end the inning. Luis Vizcaino is now in for the Indians. BJ Upton hits a lead-off, walk-off homer, his first of the season, to win it for the Rays. The Trop is going bonkers!
