Travis Jankowski connected for a walk-off RBI single to lift the Tampa Bay Rays to a 3-2 win over the visiting Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday.
Jankowski knocked the ball into left field off Milwaukee reliever Grant Anderson (1-2), scoring Kameron Misner, who had drawn a walk and stole second.
Rays reliever Pete Fairbanks (3-1) got out of a bases-loaded jam in his lone inning in the ninth to earn the win for the Rays, who claimed the series.
The Brewers have lost three in a row.
Milwaukee starting pitcher Tobias Myers held Tampa Bay to one hit and three baserunners (two walks) over the first three innings before the hosts broke through to take the lead in the fourth.
After Jonathan Aranda led off with a single, Misner drew a one-out walk. Taylor Walls then lined a double into right field to drive in Aranda and tie it 1-1. Jankowski followed with a sacrifice fly to right-center field, scoring Misner for a 2-1 Rays advantage.
With rain coming down in the top of the fifth inning, Joey Ortiz connected on a fastball, sending it into the right-field deck to tie the game at 2. It was his first home run since Sept. 20, 2024.
Jackson Chourio gave the Brewers a 1-0 lead in the top of the third. With two out, Chourio launched a splitter 108 mph off the bat into the left-center field deck for his first home run since April 26.
The game’s start endured a half-hour delay because of inclement weather in Tampa. It was the first ever weather delay in franchise history for the Rays, who are temporarily utilizing the New York Yankees’ spring training complex as their home field while the roof on their usual home, Tropicana Field, undergoes major repairs from hurricane damage.
A 38-minute rain delay put the brakes on the contest in the bottom of the fifth. Tampa Bay starter Taj Bradley returned to the mound in the top of the sixth after the delay and showed no effects from the layoff, getting the Brewers out in order.
