MLB Game Preview - Tampa Bay at Seattle

Sat Aug 10, 2019 10:10 PM EDT

The Tampa Bay Rays' race for a postseason berth just got a little tougher.

The team announced before Friday's series opener at Seattle that third baseman Yandy Diaz would be shut down from baseball activities for 6-8 weeks after a CT scan showed a hairline fracture of the navicular bone in his left foot. Diaz won't need surgery, but his regular season likely is over.

"I think that's pretty fair to assume, yeah," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "Hopefully we've got a long way to go, but they were talking about getting him ramped up, but a lot of things have to go our way."

The Rays lead Oakland by a half-game for the American League's second and final wild-card playoff berth.

Diaz, acquired from Cleveland in a three-team trade in the offseason, was batting .270 with 14 home runs and 38 RBIs in 78 games.

Diaz was placed on the injured list on July 23 with a contusion on his left foot. He experienced pain while taking ground balls Tuesday.

"Nobody knows, but I think he had the fracture all along," Cash said. "It was something that was not picked up in the initial X-ray. You get a little more detailed image with the CT scan.

"The issue with the fracture is that it's in a spot that's pretty delicate, and you don't want to make anything worse. So, do right by him and going forward, but it stinks that he's going to get shut down and miss all this time."

The Rays beat the Mariners 5-3 Friday, breaking a 2-2 tie in the ninth inning by scoring three runs on only one base hit. Pinch-hitter Ji-Man Choi's bases-loaded walk off Seattle's Anthony Bass brought home the go-ahead run.

"A lot of things went our way. We didn't necessarily knock the cover off the ball, (but) we were able to put balls in play and that's kind of what we talked about," Cash said. "Put balls in play and put some pressure on the defense. We ended up getting three runs.

"We're a pretty unique group. We constantly have to find ways to win tight ballgames. (Friday) was nice because there were some frustrating innings where we couldn't get anything going offensively."

Eric Sogard led off the ninth with a single, Kevin Kiermaier walked and Michael Brosseau put down a sacrifice bunt. After an intentional walk to Willy Adames, Choi worked his way back from a 1-2 count, taking two sliders, to draw a walk.

"Tip my hat to him for taking those two pitches," Bass told The Seattle Times. "If you don't swing at the first one, I feel you are definitely swinging at the second one. But he didn't. He stayed disciplined."

The Rays are scheduled to send right-hander Charlie Morton (12-4, 2.77 ERA) to the mound Saturday, while the Mariners plan to use a reliever as an opener before left-hander Tommy Milone (1-6, 4.33 ERA) comes in.

Morton, who suffered a loss to Toronto his last time out despite allowing only two runs in seven innings with nine strikeouts, is 4-3 with a 3.97 ERA in eight career starts against the Mariners.

Milone, who has lost five straight decisions going back to June 22, allowed two runs in five innings with seven strikeouts against Houston on Sunday in a 3-1 defeat. He's 2-3 with a 6.07 ERA in six career appearances against the Rays, including five starts.

--Field Level Media