Rays 7, Braves 2: Mesa's Homer and Jax's Five Keep Tampa Bay Rolling

Three in the second, three more in the fourth

September 9, 2026 - Atlanta - Victor Mesa Jr. hit his 11th homer to right-center in the second, and Truist Park was already a Rays night. Chandler Simpson and Richie Palacios later scored on Jorge Mateo's single. 3-0. Griffin Jax had a lead. Reynaldo López was already in trouble in his first start since July 26.

The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Atlanta Braves 7-2. Combined with Tuesday's 7-1, Tampa Bay has outscored Atlanta 14-3 in the first two games of the series. The Associated Press recap called it a series win in a matchup of division leaders. The Rays stay four games ahead of the Yankees in the AL East with a magic number of four for a first postseason berth since 2023. Atlanta's NL East lead over Philadelphia shrank to three.

Partly cloudy, 87 degrees, wind left to right at 4 mph. Attendance 30,969. Game time 2 hours, 32 minutes. The Braves had three hits. The Rays had 10 and three steals.

López's first night back

López (4-4) was reinstated from the injured list after 34 games with left knee inflammation. He lasted 4 2/3: seven hits, six runs, three walks, five strikeouts, 80 pitches. Mesa's homer was the extra-base hit. Everything else was singles and traffic. Simpson went 2-for-3 with a walk, two runs, and a steal. Palacios went 1-for-3 with a walk, a run, an RBI, and a steal. Mateo drove in two and stole a base.

The fourth made it 6-0. Mesa scored on Cedric Mullins' single. Simpson scored on Palacios' single. Yandy Díaz hit a sacrifice fly, Mullins scoring. Drake Baldwin answered with his 23rd homer to center. 6-1. That was the only run Jax allowed.

Jax (7-10) went five: two hits, one run, one walk, two strikeouts, 66 pitches. Baldwin's homer was Atlanta's first hit that hurt. Ronald Acuña Jr. doubled and did not score. Matt Olson later hit a sacrifice fly in the sixth, Baldwin scoring after Ty Johnson put him on. 6-2. Cam Booser recorded the last out of the sixth. Cole Sulser threw a clean seventh. Steven Matz finished two scoreless innings.

Liam Hicks singled Jonathan Aranda home in the seventh with Junior Caminero on third. 7-2. Caminero went 1-for-5. He did not homer. After Tuesday's four-homer night, Wednesday was singles and steals. Mesa was the extra-base hit. That was enough.

Atlanta's lineup stayed quiet

Michael Harris II went 0-for-3 with a walk. Ozzie Albies, Austin Riley, Sean Murphy, and Mike Yastrzemski combined to go 0-for-12. Mauricio Dubón singled. Olson walked and drove in one on the fly ball. Baldwin was the only Brave who changed the scoreboard with a swing. Three hits as a club against a Rays staff that did not need to be perfect.

Ray Kerr threw 1 1/3 scoreless after López. Victor Mederos allowed Hicks' RBI single. Bailey Falter, recalled when Elieser Hernández was designated for assignment, threw two perfect innings with one strikeout. Bryce Elder went on the 15-day injured list after right knee surgery Tuesday, per the AP recap. The roster churn is real. The 7-2 is the result.

Tampa Bay is 87-58. Atlanta is 85-61. Nick Martinez (14-4, 3.04) was lined up for Thursday against Martín Pérez (8-9, 3.25). A club with a magic number of four does not need to homer four times two nights in a row. It needs to score seven and let Jax hand a lead to the bullpen. Wednesday was that version.

The Rays stole three bases and left the extra-base hits in the bag except for Mesa. Atlanta's first look at López in six weeks was six runs in 4 2/3. That is a hard night to sell as rust when the other club is this organized.

AthX Engine after the baseball

AthX Engine (our projection and scoring system) put Jax at 12 pitching fantasy points. Mesa had 8 hitting FP. Tampa Bay finished with 15 team FP, sixth on the slate. Atlanta finished at minus-4. A 7-2 with 10 hits and one run over five from the starter is a clean team score. Baldwin's homer was the Braves' night on the hitter board.

Fantasy points measure the night under platform scoring rules. Share prices also move with traders through dynamic pricing. They are related. They are not the same number.

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*Sources: ESPN recap and box score, MLB.com Gameday wrap, MLB.com schedule, and AthX Engine scoring. Information only; not financial advice.*