Kevin Cash's Early Hook on Martinez Costs Rays in 10th-Inning Collapse

Nick Martinez threw 77 pitches across six shutout innings Saturday in St. Petersburg, and the Tampa Bay Rays led 1-0 when manager Kevin Cash lifted him. Eight runs later, the Miami Marlins had a 10-5 win and the Rays had a bullpen catastrophe to sort through.

Martinez was efficient and clean throughout his outing — 77 pitches at 12.8 per inning, one walk, four strikeouts, and a scoreless line against a Miami lineup he never let breathe. Tampa Bay's Chandler Simpson had given the Rays a 1-0 cushion in the bottom of the third, singling on a ground ball to left that scored Taylor Walls. Martinez protected that lead through the sixth without issue, finishing the inning on a clean exit.

Cash sent out Rays reliever Garrett Cleavinger to open the seventh with a leverage index of 1.80. Cleavinger struck out Jakob Marsee and got Javier Sanoja on a flyout in foul territory, then surrendered a solo home run to Miami's Heriberto Hernández — a fly ball to left center — before striking out Joe Mack to end the inning. Tie game, 1-1.

Rays reliever Kevin Kelly held in the eighth, allowing a single but stranding it. Bryan Baker followed in the top of the ninth and struck out Kyle Stowers and Connor Norby before Miami's Jakob Marsee singled on a pop-up to left. Sanoja then lined a double to center, scoring Marsee to put the Marlins ahead 2-1. Baker struck out Hernández to end the inning, but the lead was gone. Tampa Bay tied it in the bottom of the ninth when Nick Fortes singled on a sharp ground ball deflected by Sanoja at third, scoring Cedric Mullins to make it 2-2.

Then came the tenth, and Rays reliever Hunter Bigge. The Marlins sent 10 batters to the plate. Bigge walked two, allowed six hits, and recorded just one out before finishing the inning via groundout. Marlins shortstop Liam Hicks singled on a sharp ground ball to right, scoring Esteury Ruiz and Joe Mack to put Miami ahead 4-2 — the lead change that held the rest of the night. Otto Lopez added a sacrifice fly to right for a fifth run. Then Sanoja lined a two-strike — strike that, there were no pitch counts in the data — Sanoja lined his second double of the night to left, this time scoring Kyle Stowers, Connor Norby, and Jakob Marsee to push the Marlins to 9-2. Esteury Ruiz singled to score Sanoja for the tenth run before being thrown out at second. Bigge's final line: 1.0 IP, 6 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 2 BB, 0 K, 29 pitches.

Tampa Bay scratched back in the bottom of the tenth — Junior Caminero doubled to center to score two, and Jonathan Aranda doubled to center to score Caminero — but the 10-5 final was never in doubt.

The Rays lost a game their starter had, by every observable measure, kept them in position to win. Martinez threw 77 pitches. He had allowed nothing. He was, through six innings, the most reliable arm on the mound that night.

Was 77 pitches across six innings — clean, efficient, one walk — enough of a reason to hand a tie game to a bullpen that couldn't hold it?