Miami Marlins vs Tampa Bay Rays Box Score on May 04, 2017

The Sports Xchange
May 4, 2017

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Matt Andriese pitched seven shutout innings and Tim Beckham hit a pair of two-run home runs, helping the Tampa Bay Rays to a 5-1 win and a series victory over the Miami Marlins on Thursday night at Tropicana Field.

The Rays (15-15) saw Andriese (2-1) last seven innings for the second straight start -- this after 18 straight starts of six innings or less -- and got all the offense they needed from Beckham, who had his second multi-HR game in eight days. The Marlins (12-15) lost three of four against the Rays to drop the intra-state rivalry for this season.

Andriese scattered five hits in the first four innings, then got through the next three innings without allowing a hit. And one day after the Rays bullpen gave up eight runs in turning a 4-2 sixth-inning lead into a 10-6 loss, Tampa Bay's relievers got the job done, giving up one run in two innings. Tampa Bay was one out away from its second shutout of the season when rookie Chih-Wei Hu gave up an unearned run on an RBI single to Dee Gordon, forcing the Rays to use closer Alex Colome for the final out, earning his eighth save of the season.

Beckham provided all the runs in the game until the sixth inning, when the Rays got a two-out RBI single from Kevin Kiermaier, bringing in Derek Norris, who had singled. Marlins starter Dan Strailey (1-3) held the Rays to three hits, but walked five batters, with two of them scoring on Beckham's home runs.

The Rays managed just three hits in the first five innings, but two of them were two-run homers by Beckham, giving Tampa Bay a 4-0 lead.

Both Beckham home runs came after walks -- he hit his fifth of the year with two outs in the second inning, then hit his sixth in the fourth inning, spoiling an otherwise solid night for Marlins starter Dan Straily.

Beckham had zero multi-HR games in his first 170 career games, but has now done it twice in the last seven games.

Andriese got into trouble but consistently escaped those jams.

Miami had two singles in the second, but Derek Dietrich grounded out to first to end the inning.

The Marlins got two singles to lead off the third, but Martin Prado hit into what was nearly a triple play -- his ground ball went right to third, and Daniel Robertson tagged the base, threw to second for the out, with Prado barely beating the throw to first.

In the fifth, speedy Dee Gordon got on base with a one-out walk but was thrown out stealing second. He got to the base for his eighth steal but slid past and forced himself into a rundown between second and third.

The Rays won two of the first three games of the series, taking both games at Marlins Park before the series shifted north. Miami looked solid Wednesday night, getting a season-high 17 hits and matching its best output of the year with 10 runs.

NOTES: The Rays stay home with a three-game series next against the Blue Jays, while the Marlins stay on the road for a three-game series at the Mets, also starting Friday. ... The Rays placed RHP Erasmo Ramirez on the paternity list and recalled RHP Chih-Wei Hu from Triple-A Durham. Hu made his major league debut with a scoreless inning against the Orioles last week. He also pitched a scoreless ninth to close out Thursday's win for the Rays. ... Hu is one of two Taiwan-born players in the majors, the other being Marlins starter Wei-Yin Chen, who will start Saturday against the Mets. ... With the win, the Rays are not only back to .500 for the season, but now 176-176 all-time in interleague games. They're considerably better -- 102-72 in the "Rays era," since 2008. They've had a .500 record or better in interleague games in each of the last six seasons.