April 20, 2012
CL Game 12

Rays (FiscalWise)   11

Diamondbacks (Cocco's Pizza)   9
 

On a beautiful night for baseball, the Rays rallied for three runs in the top of the sixth to come from behind and edge the Diamondbacks, 11-9, in a slugfest. The Rays were down to their final strike before they scored any of their three runs in the final frame.

For the D'backs - Joey Cornacchia went 3-for-3 with a double, two runs scored and two RBI, and Blayke Reid went 3-for-3 with two RBI (both coming in two-out situations) to lead a Diamondbacks offense that racked up 19 hits in 37 at-bats. Meanwhile, Nicholas Corritore (triple, run scored, RBI), Jake McDowell (two runs scored), Kelton Brunner (run scored), Milan Hortua (RBI) and Nico Villalobos (run scored) tallied two hits apiece, and Luke Mersch (run scored), Dylan LeBuhn (run scored) and Josh Rodgers each joined the D'backs' hit parade with an RBI single.

For the Rays – Ben Werner went 3-4 with 3 RBI, Taiwo Andenusi went 2-4 with 1 RBI, Harry Simpson went 3-3 with 2 RBI, Zach Schuller 2-3 with 1 RBI, Eli Dietrich went 2-3, Jared Venit went 1-3 with 2 RBI, Peter Valtos went 2-3, Ben Kinsley went 2-3 with 1 RBI and Kenny Andenusi went 2-3 with 1 RBI.

In the field, McDowell, Brunner, Hortua and Rodgers all made exceptional plays for the Diamondbacks, with McDowell and Hortua each sacrificing his body to knock down the ball and prevent the Rays from adding to their score.

The D'backs jumped on top, 4-0, in the bottom of the first. After the Rays piled up five runs in the top of the third to take a 5-4 lead, the Diamondbacks came back in their half of the inning with three runs to reclaim the advantage at 7-5.

After the Rays piled up five runs in the top of the third to take a 5-4 lead, the Diamondbacks came back in their half of the inning with three runs to reclaim the advantage. After Cornacchia slammed a one-out double, McDowell singled him over to third, and Mersch brought him home with a base hit. Then, with two outs, Reid and Hortua came up with back-to-back, clutch hits to knock in McDowell and Mersch, respectively, and give the D'backs a 7-5 lead.

The Rays came right back with two runs in the top of the fourth to tie it at 7-7, but the D'backs showed their resilience by scoring two runs of their own in the bottom half to open up a 9-7 lead. In that inning, Villalobos led off with a single, and then Brunner, Corritore and Cornacchia hit back-to-back-to-back singles with two outs. The D'backs scored twice thanks in no small part to some excellent base running.

After the Rays cut the lead to 9-8 in the top of the fifth, they plated three two-out runs in the top of the sixth. Dietrich, Valtos Kinsley, Andenusi and Werenr all delivered clutch hits. In the bottom of the sixth, after Villalobos started things off with a single and Brunner moved him over to second with a two-out hit, the Rays' second baseman Eli Dietrich robbed Corritore of a hit to end the game.

For the Diamondbacks, it was the third time in three games that they lost a heartbreaker in the final inning. For the Rays, it was their first win of the season.