Nick Martinez makes it a happy birthday, leads Rays to sweep of Rockies

Marc Topkin, Tampa Bay Times on Aug 5, 2026

Published in Baseball

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DENVER — Rays players were already planning a Wednesday night dinner to mark veteran starter and team leader Nick Martinez’s 36th birthday.

He gave them more reason to celebrate, delivering a strong bounce-back outing that led them to a 4-0 series-sweeping win over the Rockies.

While Martinez was dealing on the mound, his teammates showed off the different ways they can score runs.

They got two in the first on RBI singles by Jonathan Aranda and Chandler Simpson. One in the third on a 449-foot homer by Junior Caminero that was his 33rd of the season.

And another in the seventh without a hit as Taylor Walls walked, stole second, then moved to third and scored on back-to-back bunts by Nick Fortes and Victor Mesa Jr.

The Rays improved their American League-leading record to 68-46 — reaching a season-high 22 games over .500 — and at the least maintained a 3 1/2-game East Division lead over the Yankees, who played later Wednesday, with 48 games to play.

Martinez worked into the sixth without allowing a run, scattering six hits. It was a big improvement from his previous outing Friday versus the White Sox, when he allowed a career-high four homers and six runs in all.

Wednesday, Martinez had only two brief moments of trouble.

He allowed two singles to start the fourth but got TJ Rumfield to fly out and Jordan Beck to ground into a double play. Then he gave up a single to lead off the sixth and another with two outs on his 75th pitch, and manager Kevin Cash decided that was enough. New reliever Tyler Wells, acquired Monday from the Orioles, struck out Rumfield.

Simpson and Mesa notched some notable accomplishments.

Simpson became the first player in franchise history to reach 30 steals in each of his first two seasons and the 18th big leaguer overall. He is the fourth Rays player to have multiple 30-steal seasons, joining Carl Crawford (seven), BJ Upton (five) and Jose Caballero (two).

Mesa, batting leadoff with Yandy Diaz getting a day off, tripled in his first two trips to the plate.

That was the eighth time in 29 seasons a Ray did so in back-to-back plate appearances, though the last one was recent — July 9, when Simpson did it against the Yankees. Mesa also was the first big leaguer with multiple triples in the first two innings of a game since Mookie Betts for Boston in 2018.

The Rays left after the game for Seattle, where they will open a weekend series against the Mariners on Friday night.