Rays acquire Steve Cishek from Mariners for Erasmo Ramirez

The Tampa Bay Rays continued to bolster their bullpen for the pennant race, acquiring reliever Steve Cishek from the Seattle Mariners in exchange for versatile right-hander Erasmo Ramirez.

It was a surprising deal announced Friday by teams that are competing for the same thing, a wild-card spot in the American League. Tampa Bay began the day with the second wild-card spot in the AL, with Seattle 3 1/2 games behind.

Cishek had appeared in 23 games this season for Seattle after recovering from major offseason hip surgery. Cishek was 1-1 with a 3.15 ERA, mostly working in the seventh and eighth innings out of Seattle’s bullpen. He was a closer in the past with the Marlins.

Ramirez has appeared in 26 games, with eight starts, for the Rays this year and was 4-3 with a 4.80 ERA. He was with the Mariners from 2012-14.

This story was originally published July 28, 2017 at 12:47 PM with the headline "Rays acquire Steve Cishek from Mariners for Erasmo Ramirez."