CHICAGO (AP) — Nick Fortes hit a tiebreaking homer in the ninth inning, and the Tampa Bay Rays held off the Chicago Cubs for a 5-4 victory on Saturday.
Tampa Bay trailed 4-3 before Junior Caminero hit a leadoff drive against Porter Hodge in the eighth. It was Caminero’s 43rd homer, extending his career high.
Fortes opened the ninth with a 421-foot drive to left-center for his fifth homer of the season. The shot ended a string of 22 consecutive scoreless appearances by Brad Keller (4-2) dating to July 12.
Bryan Baker (4-4) pitched a scoreless inning for the win, and Pete Fairbanks earned his 26th save in 31 chances. The Rays had dropped six of seven.
Chicago put runners on the corners with none out in the ninth. But Caminero threw out Dansby Swanson when he attempted to score on Matt Shaw’s bouncer to third. Fairbanks then struck out Michael Busch and Ian Happ.
Michael Busch and Moisés Ballesteros homered for the Cubs, who had won three in a row. Nico Hoerner had two hits and scored a run.
The Cubs honored , who helped Chicago win the 2016 World Series, before the game. The newly retired first baseman nearly caught Ballesteros’ first career homer in the second inning, but it went off his hands.
Swanson’s two-run double off Drew Rasmussen made it 3-0 in the fourth. But Brandon Lowe hit an RBI double for Tampa Bay in the sixth and scored on Jake Mangum’s pinch-hit single, tying it at 3.
Busch hit his 27th homer off Garrett Cleavinger in the seventh for a 4-3 Cubs lead.
Key moment
The Cubs had a chance to add to their lead in the fourth, but rookie Owen Caissie struck out swinging with Swanson on second.
Key stat
Caminero needs three more homers to match Carlos Peña’s single-season franchise record of 46.
Up next
Adrian Houser (8-4, 3.11 ERA) starts for Tampa Bay in Sunday’s series finale, and left-hander Shota Imanaga (9-7, 3.21 ERA) pitches for Chicago.
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