Rays vs Angels Recap: Rays fall 3-4 in a tight finish

The Rays came to Anaheim looking for payback. They'd just lost to the Angels 14-3 two days earlier in a game that got ugly fast. Now it was Saturday, and Tampa Bay wanted to bounce back hard. But the Angels had other plans. In the bottom of the first inning, Trey Mancini stepped up with the bases loaded and the crowd roaring. He ripped a triple into right field that cleared the bases. Trout and Adell came sprinting home. Just like that, Los Angeles jumped ahead 2-0 before the Rays even got their first at-bat. The Angels were awake and hungry. This game felt different already.

The Rays weren't going down quietly. In the third inning, McClanahan was still on the mound when Nick Madrigal stepped in with two outs. He punched an infield single to second that brought Peraza home and cut it to 2-1. Then Logan O'Hoppe came right up and singled to left. Madrigal raced to second and scored. Suddenly it was 2-2 and the Angels' early lead was gone. The fifth inning brought more trouble for McClanahan. Jonathan Aranda crushed a single to left that scored both Fortes and Simpson. Walls moved to second. Just like that, the Rays took a 4-2 lead. McClanahan was fighting hard but Tampa Bay's bats had woken up.

The Rays kept pushing. In the ninth inning, they wouldn't quit. Aranda stepped up again with two outs and smashed another single to right. Fortes raced home to make it 3-4. The Angels' lead was just one run now and the Rays were knocking on the door. But the Angels' bullpen came through when they had to. Ryan Zeferjahn threw a fastball that was sharp and nasty. He struck out the next batter to end the threat. The ball game was over. Los Angeles had survived a furious comeback attempt and won 4-3. The Angels improved to 28-42 with their third straight win. The Rays fell to 40-27 but they fought until the final out.