ATLANTA -- The Rays entered Thursday with a chance to seal their 15th series sweep of the season and potentially clinch a trip to the postseason.
Both will have to wait for another day.
Locked in a scoreless duel with the Braves for most of the afternoon, the Rays blinked first in the eighth inning and dropped the series finale, 3-1, at Truist Park.
The Rays can still secure their spot in the American League playoff field as soon as Friday night, when they return to Tropicana Field to begin their final regular-season homestand against the Astros. If the Rangers lose in Seattle on Thursday or the White Sox lose to the Pirates, the Rays will be one victory away from clinching.
Tampa Bay could have put itself in position to make that happen on Thursday afternoon, but the Rays were stymied by Atlanta’s pitching staff before reliever Kevin Kelly gave up three runs on four straight hits in the eighth.
Pinch-hitter Ozzie Albies began the Braves’ go-ahead rally with a triple to right-center field, then he scored when Austin Riley singled through the Rays’ drawn-in infield. Mike Yastrzemski followed with a ground-rule double to right, and Ha-Seong Kim swatted a two-run single to center.
Rays starter Nick Martinez cruised into the seventh inning, throwing only 68 pitches as he retired 18 of the 20 batters he faced. He gave up a pair of singles to Matt Olson (in the first inning) and Kim (in the sixth), then erased Kim with a quick pickoff move to first.
Although Martinez didn’t allow a runner to reach second base, he was pulled by manager Kevin Cash after retiring Ronald Acuña Jr. to lead off the seventh. Lefty Cam Booser came in to retire the left-handed-hitting Olson and Michael Harris II, both of whom lined out to right field.
The Rays had an easier time getting runners on base against Braves left-hander Martín Pérez, but they found no more success scoring runs as the veteran starter worked seven scoreless innings. Tampa Bay’s run came in the ninth, when Victor Mesa Jr. hit his 12th homer of the season and the first of his career as a pinch-hitter.
In fact, the Rays’ best opportunity came and went right away. They loaded the bases in the first inning on a trio of singles by Yandy Díaz, Ryan Vilade and Jonny DeLuca, bringing up Atlanta native Chandler Simpson with a chance to take an early lead. But Simpson hit a grounder to first, and the Braves turned an inning-ending 3-2-3 double play to escape the jam.
Tampa Bay had another chance in the sixth, when Simpson came to the plate with runners on first and second and two outs. The speedster dropped a bunt that rolled in front of the mound, looking like a single that could load the bases. But Pérez made an excellent play and fired the ball to Olson at first. Simpson was ruled out, and although it looked like he may have narrowly beaten the throw, the call stood after a replay review.