Field Level Media
Apr 22, 2023
Randy Arozarena, who homered in his first at-bat, delivered an RBI single to right field in the 10th inning to lift the host Tampa Bay Rays to a 4-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Arozarena finished 3-for-5 and drove in all four Rays' runs.
The Rays improved to 18-3, and for the second straight game, walked-off the White Sox.
In the 10th inning, Vidal Brujan was the placed runner at second base. With one out, Wander Franco was intentionally walked, and Arozarena ended it with his single to right off Jimmy Lambert (1-1).
Garrett Cleavinger (1-0) threw a scoreless top of the 10th to earn the win.
Rays starter Shane McClanahan was simply dominant over six innings, striking out 10 while walking one. The southpaw allowed three hits, but two of them were solo home runs. With his pitch count at 88, Tampa Bay went to the bullpen.
McClanahan's bid for a win was erased in the eighth inning when Gavin Sheets connected on a pinch-hit home run off Jason Adam, knotting the score at 3-3.
In the first inning, Arozarena's two-run homer off Dylan Cease set a major league record for Tampa Bay, which has homered in each of its first 21 games. The 2019 Seattle Mariners did it in 20 games.
The White Sox chipped back in the second inning on Eloy Jimenez's home run. And in the fifth inning, Yasmani Grandal's home run to lead off the inning pulled the White Sox even at 2-2.
The Rays effectively ran up Cease's pitch count, and the White Sox went to the bullpen with no outs and two on in the fifth inning.
Yandy Diaz and Franco each singled to open the fifth, and Cease exited at 101 pitches with runners on the corners in a 2-2 game. Arozarena bounced an RBI single to left off Keynan Middleton, putting Tampa Bay back in front 3-2.
Diaz went 3-for-4 for the Rays, but the first baseman removed himself from the game during warmups in the top of the eighth inning. The team announced Diaz felt dehydrated. Isaac Paredes took over at first.
--Field Level Media