ST PETERSBURG — Zach Eflin tied for the American League lead with 14 hits, and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Seattle Mariners 6-3 on Sunday to take three of four games in the series between the two postseason rivals.
Tampa Bay opened eight and a half games ahead of Seattle in the AL wild card. The Mariners were bound for Toronto. The Rays entered four games behind Baltimore in the East, while Seattle was a game and a half behind Houston in the West.
Eflin (14-8) allowed three runs and seven hits in five innings. He set a franchise record with his 11th home run in a season. Pete Fairbanks picked up his 21st save to seal the four-pitcher relief.
The Rays scored three runs on 11 pitches off Bryce Miller (8-5). Colombian Harold Ramirez made it two in the first inning with a double, and Josh Lowe drove in a run with another double.
Luke Raleigh extended the lead to 5-0 with a RBI double in the third inning.
For the Rays, Ramirez, a Colombian, went 1 for 4 with two RBIs and a run scored. Panama’s Christian Bethancourt went 1 for 4 with RBI. Venezuela’s Oslevis Pacebe and Dominican Jose Siri were both 1-for-4 with a run scored.
For the Mariners, Dominican Julio Rodriguez scored a run in a 5-2 victory; And Dioscar Hernandez scored a goal to make it 4-1. Venezuela’s Eugenio Suarez went 0-3 against RBI.
