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The Rays kicked off the Citrus Series with an entertaining win, thanks to some much needed offense.

Ryan Pepiot took the mound for the Rays and struggled in the first inning, allowing a solo shot and a couple RBI to give Miami a quick three run lead, but it was the case of a One Bad Inning, and he quickly settled down.

Indeed, Pepiot was his normal self, cruising through 5 more innings after that with one hit allowed, with my favorite at bat of the night coming against Tim Anderson in the fourth inning. With one out he blew two fastballs right by him, then got him swinging over a gorgeous change up. Pepiot just had to settle in.

In the top of the fourth the Rays finally answered, with Randy leading the frame with a walk against Jesus Luzardo, and Paredes following with a one-out line drive to put two men on for Brandon Lowe. Paredes had just driven a slider, and for some reason Luzardo tried another with his next pitch to see if it would bite. It didn’t! And that dawg tied the game with a homerun down the line.

Luzardo abandoned his slider, but Amed Rosario singled anyway, and then advanced on a wild pitch, putting him in position to score on a well struck double by Jose Siri.

Jose Siri was then the second out of the inning on a DeLuca groundball to short stop. He took off running to third base but inexplicably stopped to see what the shortstop would do with the ball, spelling his doom. Caught in no-man’s land, the Marlins easily ran him down trying to retreat to second base on a fielder’s choice. DeLuca finished the frame trying to steal on a pickoff attempt by the catcher.

The Rays would chase Jesus Luzardo in the next inning, following an Alex Jackson groundout (duh), and starting from the top of the order: single, walk, single, single, double. All of a sudden that 4-3 lead became and 8-3 lead, and leading to a pitching change.

Fear not, Rosario singled in Brandon for the ninth run in the next at bat.

With the hopes of riding this game out the Rays brought on Sterner, a prospect in the Rays system the last three years that originally signed with Miami after going undrafted from BYU, but the Rays did no favors in their defense.

A slow turn to fire to first from Caballero, a bouncer off the chest and into foul territory for Yandy, a slow turn on a double play for Brandon, and a run scored in the seventh. Josh Bell added a fifth run for Miami in the eighth on a double then a sac fly. All in all, not a bad outing for the rookie placeholder for Eflin’s roster spot (which should activate tomorrow).

Phil Maton was brought in for the ninth, but like Pepiot in the first inning, he didn’t have it. Three straight singles, and the Rays were quick to turn to Pete Fairbanks with no outs, and lord have mercy it was a vintage performance!

Game notes:

Randy took a fastball off the helmet, but appeared to be just fine…

• Alex Jackson cannot catch a break on offense.
• Today was the Rays first game against Miami now that former GM Peter Bendix is their President of Baseball Ops, and the game broadcast had lots of hugs and kind words for the former SB Nation alum.
• Kevin Cash said this was Pepiot’s best outing in a Rays uniform

• Today also marked 10 years since the passing of Don Zimmer, whose memory lives on every time the Rays take the field.