Jose Siri drives in go

Adam Berry

MIAMI -- The last time the Rays faced Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara, he tossed a 97-pitch complete game at Tropicana Field. The reigning National League Cy Young Award winner’s one-run gem punctuated a brutal skid for Tampa Bay, one that saw the club drop 15 of 20 games.

But much has changed for the Rays since then. They’re back to winning games in bunches and running off series victories. They’re bashing home runs and rallying late in games. And their lineup more closely resembles the deep, productive unit that spent the early months of the season dominating opposing pitchers.

That was all on display in the Rays’ 11-2 win over the Marlins on Tuesday night at loanDepot park, which kept Tampa Bay (81-52) 2 1/2 games behind American League East-leading Baltimore (83-49). The Rays scored just one run in Alcantara’s first five innings, but they eventually wore him down, pulled ahead with a three-run sixth inning and piled on seven more against Miami’s bullpen.

“I think we’re playing some very good games lately. Every game here matters,” Randy Arozarena said through interpreter Manny Navarro. “We want to play in October, so we’ve got to just keep on going.”

Since their loss to Alcantara on July 26 -- capping a 20-game stretch in which they averaged 3.3 runs per game -- the Rays have gone 19-9 while scoring 6.1 runs per game. As cold as most of their lineup seemed to be in July, with multiple key hitters slumping, they’ve sent out a bunch of scorching bats throughout August.

“I think everyone understands we had a down month. … It just so happened to happen to everybody at the same time,” second baseman Brandon Lowe said. “But I think as we're seeing, everybody's kind of come out of it at the same time as well. August has been a good month, we've been playing good baseball, and hopefully, we can keep it rolling.”

The contributions have come from all over, as was the case again Tuesday.

After grinding through a 32-pitch first inning, right-hander Aaron Civale kept Tampa Bay in the series opener by permitting only two runs on seven hits while striking out five over five innings. That left the Rays down a run entering the sixth, but their deficit didn’t last long.

“It’s incredible,” said Civale, who is 2-1 with a 3.55 ERA in five starts with the Rays and 7-3 with a 2.64 mark in 18 starts overall. “Seeing what those guys can do instills all the confidence in the world in pitchers to go out there and compete, and know that the offense is going to be swinging and they're going to put up good at-bats all the time.”

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Lowe’s leadoff popup to shallow right field fell between second baseman Luis Arraez and right fielder Jorge Soler. That break went further in the Rays’ favor when Isaac Paredes slapped a game-tying RBI single to left with one out.

Alcantara hit Vidal Bruján with a 1-2 changeup with two outs. Then Siri chased the right-hander by ripping his 110th pitch of the night, a first-pitch slider, off the left-field wall for a two-run double that made it a 4-2 game.

“We never give up,” Siri said through Navarro. “We already know from the fifth inning on, just to try to do everything well.”

Tampa Bay didn’t let up against Miami’s bullpen in the seventh. After René Pinto’s leadoff double, Harold Ramírez smacked a pinch-hit RBI single to left off lefty reliever Steven Okert with one out. Ramírez is 9-for-15 with five RBIs as a pinch-hitter this season after going 9-for-19 with seven RBIs in the same role last year.

Arozarena and Josh Lowe, two hitters who slumped through July before finding their footing in August, also stayed hot. Arozarena launched a homer to left-center field, and Lowe pulled his 18th of the year to right-center, both off reliever George Soriano.

Arozarena and Lowe have each hit safely in 17 of their past 20 starts, with Arozarena batting .303 during that stretch and Lowe hitting .350 during his run. Arozarena’s two-run blast was his 21st of the season, a career high after he went deep 20 times each of the past two years.

“Now we all know -- at least I know -- that I’m able to hit more than 20 home runs in a season,” Arozarena, smiling, said through Navarro.

Paredes continued his remarkable middle-of-the-order run production in the ninth by blasting a three-run homer off Jorge López, giving him 27 home runs and 84 RBIs this season.

“It seemed like our momentum really picked up,” manager Kevin Cash said. “A bunch of good at-bats, a bunch of hard-hit balls, and then the game opened up with some big home runs from a couple guys.”