Waguespack and 5 relievers combine on a 6-hitter and Rays beat Giants 2-1

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Jacob Waguespack and five relievers combined on a six-hitter and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the San Francisco Giants 2-1 on Friday night.

Waguespack gave up one run and four hits over four innings in his first start since Sept. 25, 2019, and fourth appearance this season. Garrett Cleavinger (2-0) followed with 1 2/3 scoreless innings.

Phil Maton, Colon Poche, Jason Adam and Pete Fairbanks — who worked the ninth to get his third save in as many chances — closed out the Rays' fifth win in six games. Fairbanks retired the final two batters with a runner on third.

“Really good job from the bullpen from the start really, including Waguespack, he kind of set the tone,” Poche said.

Tampa Bay has five starting pitchers on the injured list and the Rays' bullpen entered with an AL-worst 6.43 ERA.

San Francisco has three extra-base hits, including one Friday, over the last three games and gone without a homer in seven straight. The Giants went 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position against Tampa Bay.

“Just didn’t get great at-bats in those situations,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said.

Tampa Bay took a 2-1 lead on Amed Rosario’s RBI double. Rosario was awarded third when third baseman Matt Chapman was called for obstruction on the Rays’ second basemen’s slide.

“That’s going to look funny all year,” Melvin said, “It’s the first time we’ve seen it called like that.”

Harold Ramirez scored on Rosario's hit after beating out an infield single.

“I didn’t know he was that fast,” Rosario said through a translator.

Melvin was ejected by plate umpire Clint Vondrak for arguing after Jorge Soler was called out on strikes on a pitch by Poche with two on to end the top of the seventh.

“He’s been calling the top of the zone the whole game and he called that one, which has not been called and it looked like it was way below the zone in that situation,” Melvin said. “For me, it was pretty egregious.”

San Francisco starter Keaton Winn (0-3) nearly worked out of a base-loaded, no-out jam in the second with a pair of strikeouts, but walked Yandy Díaz on a 3-2 pitch. He avoided further damage by retiring Randy Arozarena on a grounder.

Winn allowed two runs and five hits in five innings. He struck out six.

San Francisco tied it at 1 in the third when Jung Hoo Lee singled, stole second and went to third on catcher Ben Rortvedt’s throwing error, and scored on a wild pitch.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Giants: RHP Alex Cobb (left hip surgery) could throw off a bullpen mound next week. … LHP Robbie Ray (Tommy John surgery) is throwing off a mound and is expected back sometime after the All-Star break.

Rays: 2B Brandon Lowe (right oblique strain) was placed on the 10-day IL and INF-OF Niko Goodrum was recalled from Triple-A Durham.

UP NEXT

Giants RHP Logan Webb (0-1) and Rays RHP Ryan Pepiot (1-1) are Saturday’s starters.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

San Francisco Giants shortstop Nick Ahmed tags out Tampa Bay Rays' Jose Siri (22) attempting to steal second base during the fourth inning of a baseball game Friday, April 12, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Tampa Bay Rays shortstop José Caballero forces San Francisco Giants' Nick Ahmed (16) at second base and relays the throw to first in time to turn a double play on Jung Hoo Lee during the fifth inning of a baseball game Friday, April 12, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Tampa Bay Rays' Amed Rosario gets hit with a foul ball on a pitch from San Francisco Giants' Keaton Winn during the fifth inning of a baseball game Friday, April 12, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Tampa Bay Rays right fielder Richie Palacios makes a running catch on a fly out by San Francisco Giants' Patrick Bailey during the fourth inning of a baseball game Friday, April 12, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Tampa Bay Rays' Harold Ramírez celebrates with Richie Palacios (1) after scoring on a bases-loaded walk by San Francisco Giants pitcher Keaton Winn during the second inning of a baseball game Friday, April 12, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

San Francisco Giants' Jung Hoo Lee, left, scores in front of Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Jacob Waguespack on a passed ball by catcher Ben Rortvedt during the third inning of a baseball game Friday, April 12, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Tampa Bay Rays' Harold Ramírez, left, gets back safely ahead of the tag by San Francisco Giants second baseman Thairo Estrada after Ramirez over ran the base on an infield single by Amed Rosario during the second inning of a baseball game Friday, April 12, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Tampa Bay Rays' Randy Arozarena, left, dives back to first ahead of the pickoff throw to San Francisco Giants first baseman LaMonte Wade Jr. during the first inning of a baseball game Friday, April 12, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

San Francisco Giants pitcher Keaton Winn delivers to the Tampa Bay Rays during the first inning of a baseball game Friday, April 12, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Tampa Bay Rays' Jacob Waguespack pitches to the San Francisco Giants during the first inning of a baseball game Friday, April 12, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

HONOLULU (AP) — Defense chiefs from the U.S., Australia, Japan and the Philippines vowed to deepen their cooperation as they gathered Thursday in Hawaii for their second-ever joint meeting amid concerns about China's operations in the South China Sea.

The meeting came after the four countries last month held their first joint naval exercises in the South China Sea, a major shipping route where Beijing has long-simmering territorial disputes with a number of Southeast Asian nations and has caused alarm with its recent assertiveness in the waters.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters at a news conference after their discussion that the drills strengthened the ability of the nations to work together, build bonds among their forces and underscore their shared commitment to international law in the waterway.

Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said the defense chiefs talked about increasing the tempo of their defense exercises.

“Today, the meetings that we have held represent a very significant message to the region and to the world about four democracies which are committed to the global rules-based order,” Marles said at the joint news conference with his counterparts.

Austin hosted the defense chiefs at the U.S. military’s regional headquarters, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, at Camp H.M. Smith in the hills above Pearl Harbor. Earlier in the day, Austin had separate bilateral meetings with Australia and Japan followed by a trilateral meeting with Australia and Japan.

Defense chiefs from the four nations held their first meeting in Singapore last year.

The U.S. has decades-old defense treaties with all three nations.

The U.S. lays no claims to the South China Sea, but has deployed Navy ships and fighter jets in what it calls freedom of navigation operations that have challenged China’s claims to virtually the entire waterway. The U.S. says freedom of navigation and overflight in the waters is in America’s national interest.

Aside from China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei also have overlapping claims in the resource-rich sea. Beijing has refused to recognize a 2016 international arbitration ruling that invalidated its expansive claims on historical grounds.

Skirmishes between Beijing and Manila in particular have flared since last year. Earlier this week, Chinese coast guard ships fired water cannons at two Philippine patrol vessels off off Scarborough Shoal, damaging both.

The repeated high-seas confrontations have sparked fears of a larger conflict that could put China and the United States on a collision course.. The U.S. has warned repeatedly that it’s obligated to defend the Philippines — its oldest treaty ally in Asia — if Filipino forces, ships or aircraft come under an armed attack, including in the South China Sea.

President Joe Biden's administration has said it aims to build what it calls a “latticework” of alliances in the Indo-Pacific even as the U.S. grapples with the Israel-Hamas war and Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Beijing says the strengthening of U.S. alliances in Asia is aimed at containing China and threatens regional stability.

FILE - Japanese Defense Minster Minoru Kihara speaks during a meeting with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon, Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023, in Washington. Austin and his counterparts from Australia, Japan and the Philippines gather in Hawaii for their second-ever meeting of defense ministers, Thursday, May 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

FILE - Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense Richard Marles speaks during a news conference at the State Department, Dec. 6, 2022, in Washington. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his counterparts from Australia, Japan and the Philippines gather in Hawaii for their second-ever meeting of defense ministers, Thursday, May 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

FILE - Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin listens during a House Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Defense budget hearing Fiscal Year 2025 on Capitol Hill, April 17, 2024, in Washington. Austin and his counterparts from Australia, Japan and the Philippines gather in Hawaii for their second-ever meeting of defense ministers on Thursday, May 2, 2024. (AP Photo/John McDonnell, File)