Rays' faith in Jax unshaken despite rocky start to '26

ST. LOUIS -- The circumstances were different on Saturday afternoon at Busch Stadium, but the frustrating outcome was the same for Griffin Jax.

Two games into the season, Jax -- arguably the club’s top high-leverage reliever -- has inherited a pair of one-run leads in critical situations and given up both.

After surrendering the final blow in the Rays’ sixth-inning collapse against the Cardinals on Opening Day, Jax allowed a walk-off, two-run single to rookie JJ Wetherholt in the 10th inning to end Tampa Bay’s 6-5 loss to St. Louis on Saturday.

“It's part of the job,” Jax said. “Especially as a reliever, you’ve just got to keep showing up to the ballpark ready to take the ball the next day.”

It was just the second time in franchise history the Rays entered the ninth inning trailing by four or more runs and came back to force extras, and it was the first such game they lost. The other was a 10-8 walk-off victory over the Yankees last April 19.

The Rays have dropped their first two games of the season for the first time since 2016 and only the sixth time in franchise history. In both defeats, the bullpen overshadowed a handful of positive developments.

In the season opener, the Rays racked up 17 hits and 23 baserunners, their highest total in any nine-inning loss in club history. They got a good start from Drew Rasmussen and a bunch of contributions from all over the lineup. But the bullpen couldn’t hold a six-run lead, a letdown capped by Jax giving up a two-run, tiebreaking homer to Alec Burleson.

On Saturday, the Rays had to feel good about starter Joe Boyle bouncing back from a shaky first inning to retire each of the final 16 batters he faced. And while they were held hitless for six innings by Cardinals starter Michael McGreevy and scoreless for eight innings, they showed a lot of fight in staging a game-tying, four-run comeback in the ninth.

“I love seeing us in that situation, not giving up and putting together really good at-bats and putting ourselves in a good spot to keep competing in the game,” said rookie shortstop Carson Williams, who hit a two-run single in the ninth and then scored from first base on Nick Fortes’ game-tying single and a bold send by third-base coach Brady Williams.

Bryan Baker struck out two in the ninth to keep it tied, and Yandy Díaz ripped a go-ahead single on the first pitch of the 10th. But just like Thursday, when the Rays’ big half-inning was immediately negated by a bigger one from the Cardinals, the shift in momentum was short-lived.

To start the 10th, Jax fired four straight pitches outside the zone to walk Jordan Walker. Then came a sacrifice bunt from Victor Scott II, putting both Walker and automatic runner Nathan Church in scoring position for Wetherholt, the top prospect who homered in his MLB debut on Thursday.

Jax said he wasn’t upset about the way the game ended, but he was kicking himself over the leadoff walk.

“Maybe it's trying to be a little bit too careful, not necessarily just trying to attack and get ahead,” he said.

Manager Kevin Cash said they were “not really” thinking about putting Wetherholt on base and pitching to catcher Pedro Pagés, although it’s possible they would have considered doing so if Jax fell behind in the count.

Wetherholt didn’t give them the chance.

With the Rays’ infield drawn halfway in to cut down the tying run at the plate if necessary, Jax fired a first-pitch sweeper that Wetherholt smacked between second baseman Ben Williamson and first baseman Jonathan Aranda into right field. Both runners scored, and the Cardinals’ celebration was on.

“I'm trying to get ahead there. I'm going to pitch to my strengths, and that's my offspeed,” Jax said. “I wasn't actually thinking about putting him on. I was more so going for [us] trying to get ahead and go for the strikeout. And I got a ground ball. It just happened to go through.”

It was an aggravating ending for Jax, who came to the Rays from the Twins in a Trade Deadline deal for Taj Bradley last year. Teammates, coaches and staff rave about the elite stuff the 31-year-old right-hander possesses, and it was on full display as he retired all 10 batters he faced while pitching for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic earlier this month.

The Rays view him as one of the top arms in their mix-and-match bullpen, and their belief is reflected in the key spots he’s been called upon during the first two games of the season.

Don’t expect two bad days to change that.

“We'll get him back out there,” Cash said. “He's going to pitch a lot of big innings for us and get a bunch of big outs.”