Advantage Rays...
This time the bullpen held on. Just barely, but they held on and the Rays now take a 3-2 series advantage with them back to Tampa for Game 6 in two days' time with a chance to win it in front of the home fans, something they haven't done since 2028. That was at Tropicana Field, and they've yet to do it at Publix Park. Anyway Leo Ortega was outstanding once again, retiring in the first 14 Dodgers before Nick Gonzales doubled with two out in the 5th. He traded zeroes with Ted Jennings until the Rays broke through in the 6th. It looked like it would be for naught when Jaiden Hardaway was thrown out at home on Victor de Jesus's double for the second out, but Danny Ayala delivered an RBI single and Vlad Guerrero Jr. homered for the second straight game to make it 3-0. Ortega ran into trouble in the 7th, allowing a run, but Mike Wherry got him out of it. But Wherry got himself into trouble in the 8th, giving up a 1-out double to score a run with the batter taking 3rd. Tim Siqueiros came on and really made things tough, walking the first two he faced to load the bases. But he got Kevin Crater to hit one at Hardaway with the infield in for the force at the plate and then got a fly ball to end the inning. With Kikuo Kawase unavailable after pitching the previous two days, Siqueiros stayed on for the 9th and got two lazy fly balls (including one from last night's hero Brandon Marsh) and a groundout to get a 33-pitch save and the Rays breathed a sigh of relief. At the moment I'm undecided on the Game 6 starter as I may go to Jon Soranno as Nate Thompson gave up 3 runs and 8 hits in 5 innings against a lineup with a lot of lefties in Game 2.