Major League Baseball
Tampa Bay 8, Detroit 7
When: 7:10 PM ET, Wednesday, April 19, 2017
Where: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida
Temperature: Indoors
Umpires: Home - Larry Vanover, 1B - Alfonso Marquez, 2B - Chad Fairchild, 3B - David Rackley
Attendance: 12281

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- On a night where defensive miscues hurt both teams, the Detroit Tigers made the last mistake with a two-out throwing error in the bottom of the ninth, giving the Tampa Bay Rays a wild 8-7 victory Wednesday night at Tropicana Field.

With the bases loaded and one out, Logan Morrison hit what looked to be a routine game-ending double-play ball to second, but shortstop Jose Iglesias tripped as he tagged second and his throw sailed wide, allowing the tying and winning runs to score.

"It was an odd play to end the game -- nine times out of 10 that's a double play," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. "Iggy kind of hit second base awkwardly and fell. It's just one of those things that you can't predict."

Tampa Bay (8-8) had blown a four-run lead, with five runs scoring on two outfield miscues, this after the Tigers (8-6) had allowed two balls to drop for base hits on communications errors in the outfield.

Iglesias stayed down on the field for moments after the game, as Brad Miller's knee collided with his jaw as he slid into a collision on the basepaths. Ausmus said he was being evaluated by trainers after the game but didn't know the severity of his injury.

Down 7-6 in the ninth, the Rays got to closer Francisco Rodriguez (1-1). Kevin Kiermaier -- who allowed three runs to score when he missed a two-out line drive in the sixth -- walked and Evan Longoria doubled to right field, and the Tigers intentionally walked Brad Miller to load the bases with no outs.

With one out, Morrison hit what looked to be a routine grounder, but proved the game-winner as the Rays got their second walkoff win in two weeks.

"Love the way the guys came back and found a way to win," said Rays manager Kevin Cash, ejected for arguing a third strike on the previous batter.

Two outfield miscues had allowed five runs to score as the Rays turned a 5-1 lead into a 7-5 deficit in two innings. Even Kiermaier, the Rays' two-time Gold Glove center fielder, missed a line drive with two outs and the bases loaded in the sixth, so instead of a 5-4 lead and the inning over, the Rays trailed 7-5 after three runs scored on Nicholas Castellanos' second triple of the night.

"The key point in that game was when I missed that ball. That was a big blow to us and they had all the momentum," Kiermaier said. "I take sole blame for that, for me putting us in that position. For us to have our backs against the wall and come out on top, that was huge."

Rookie reliever Austin Pruitt (1-0) threw 3 1/3 innings of scoreless one-hit relief, striking out five, to earn his first major league win.

Tampa Bay's bullpen had made it harder in the sixth -- Danny Farquhar issued a four-pitch walk, then hit Andrew Romine with his next pitch. A double play helped negate that, but reliever Jumbo Diaz walked the next two batters to load the bases and set up Kiermaier's uncharacteristic mistake in the field.

An inning earlier, a line drive popped out of the glove of left fielder Shane Peterson as he hit the ground on a diving catch, allowing two runs to score on a ball hit by Victor Martinez.

Detroit starter Jordan Zimmermann gave up 10 hits and five earned runs but still was in line for the win, despite two would-be outs dropping in right field in part due to poor communication and trouble spotting the ball against the stadium's white roof.

"Unfortunately, the source of confusion was coming from the stands," Ausmus said. "Someone in the stands was yelling 'I've got it.' That's why (Ian) Kinsler went out acting like he had it, then heard someone say 'I've got it' so backed off.

"But it wasn't the outfielders that called it. Same thing happened on the earlier ball in the first inning. It was coming from the stands. We had to change our signals so the Rays fans didn't cause any more confusion."

The Rays pulled within a run in the seventh, getting three singles off reliever Alex Wilson -- Steven Souza's single brought in Kiermaier and put the tying run in scoring position with one out, but the Rays couldn't tie it up.

The Rays jumped out to a 5-1 lead for starter Chris Archer, but fielding woes contributed to a three-run fifth for Detroit to pull within a run.

Iglesias singled out of the No. 9 hole to lead off the fifth, with Ian Kinsler walking and Miguel Cabrera coming through with a one-out RBI double to cut the lead to 5-2.

Martinez sent a line drive to left field and Peterson, playing the outfield for the first time at Tropicana Field, dived to make the catch. But the ball popped out of his glove, allowing two runs to score on what was ruled a single to make it 5-4.

Detroit had outfield miscues of its own -- Corey Dickerson led off the first with a pop to right-center field, where neither JaCoby Jones nor Tyler Collins called for the ball and both watched it drop between them for a double.

Kiermaier dropped a perfect bunt single down the third-base line, and Longoria hit an RBI infield single for a 1-0 lead. Steven Souza followed with a one-out RBI single to make it 2-0 early against Zimmermann.

Detroit got back within a run in the third as Cabrera singled to bring in Kinsler, but the Rays got three in the fourth to extend their lead. Peterson doubled and scored on Dickerson's RBI single, and after a Kiermaier double, Longoria ripped a two-run single to left to make it 5-1.

Archer pitched well, striking out nine but lasting only five innings, throwing 104 pitches. He had held Detroit to four hits through four innings but gave up three hits and three runs in the fifth.

NOTES: Tigers OF Justin Upton was out of the lineup, one day after he bruised his right wrist making contact with Rays SS Tim Beckham as he slid into second. He's not expected to play in Thursday's series finale, but no word was given on his return beyond that. ... Detroit's record of 13 straight games with a home run, the longest in baseball since the Indians in 2002, came to an end. ... With Jake Odorizzi on the disabled list with a hamstring injury, the Rays will throw a bullpen day Thursday, with reliever Erasmo Ramirez getting the start. It's his first start in more than a year, and he was stretched out with a four-inning, 46-pitch outing Saturday in a loss at Boston.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Detroit   Tampa Bay
Jordan Zimmermann Player Chris Archer
No Decision W/L No Decision
6.0 IP 5.0
4 Strikeouts 9
10 Hits 7
7.50 ERA 7.20
Hitting
Detroit   Tampa Bay
Miguel Cabrera Player Kevin Kiermaier
3 Hits 3
2 RBI 0
0 HR 0
4 TB 4
.750 Avg .750
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Detroit 9 0 15 .273 15 14 7 6 1 1
Tampa Bay 14 0 18 .359 21 8 7 3 0 0