ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Trade acquisition Christopher Morel homered in his Tampa Bay debut, helping the new-look Rays come from behind to beat the Miami Marlins 9-3 on Tuesday night.
Ben Rortvedt and Yandy Diaz each contributed two-run singles off reliever Declan Cronin (2-3) during a five-run sixth inning that propelled the Rays to a 6-3 lead. Jose Caballero added an RBI double, then scored on a balk while attempting to steal home to extend the lead in the seventh.
Morel, acquired Sunday in a trade that sent All-Star infielder Isaac Paredes to Chicago, homered to left center field off Marlins starter Edward Cabrera leading off the fourth inning. The deal was one of several the Rays made the past week with an eye on positioning themselves for success in coming years.
“We know he’s got a lot of power,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “He was fun to be around today. The hitting was great, but also his presence in the dugout — vocal, smiling, kind of what we had heard” about him.
The homer was Morel’s 19th of the season.
With three straight wins, Tampa Bay (55-52) also climbed three games over .500 for the first time in two months and is back in contention for a wild-card playoff berth.
The Marlins (39-68) were also sellers before the trade deadline, moving third baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. to the New York Yankees last week and moving infielder Josh Bell and pitchers Tanner Scott, Trevor Rogers and JT Chargois in deals Tuesday.
Left-hander Jeffrey Springs returned from Tommy John surgery, making his first start since April 2023 for the Rays. He allowed a two-run homer to Emmanuel Rivera in the first inning and yielded six hits while striking out three over 3 2/3 innings.
“Wish I could have pitched better, obviously, but I’m trying to look at the bigger picture,” Springs said.
“He’s known to be hard of himself,” Cash said. “But hopefully he can find some positives that he’s on a big league mound and contributing to us winning.”
Jake Burger had a solo homer off Tyler Alexander (4-3) for a 3-1 Marlins lead in the fifth. Cabrera left the game with a knee injury after allowing two runs and three hits in five-plus innings.
TRAINERS ROOM
Marlins: Cabrera departed two pitches into the sixth inning. He motioned with his glove for catcher Nick Fortes to approach the mound and was replaced by Cronin after a brief discussion with manager Skip Schumaker.
Schumaker said the right-hander tweaked his knee covering first base on an infield single the previous inning.
“We’ll figure it out after testing (Wednesday),” the manager added.
Rays: Springs made his first start since April 13, 2023, against the Boston Red Sox, a span of 474 days. He threw 76 pitches, 46 for strikes.
UP NEXT
Right-hander Taj Bradley (6-4, 2.43 ERA) starts the finale of a two-game series for Tampa Bay. The Marlins will counter with right-hander Roddery Munoz (1-5, 5.61).
