Hitless Rays suffer another loss to White Sox

by Gary Shelton on August 5, 2018 · 0 comments

in general

Mallex Smith caught off first base after line drive./JEFFREY S. KING

Mallex Smith caught off first base after line drive./JEFFREY S. KING

Sunday, 3 a.m.

Can someone get the Tampa Bay Rays bigger bats?

A fourth out?

A fourth strike?

The suddenly meek again Tampa Bay Rays fell once more Saturday evening,  losing a 2-1 game to the wretched Chicago White Sox. It was the 19th time the Rays have lost scoring three runs or fewer, the 11th time they have lost scoring two or fewer.

Tampa Bay mustered only three hits in their defeat, wasting yet another solid pitching performance against the 40-70 White Sox. This time, Blake

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Snell allowed only earned run for Rays./JEFFREY S. KING

Snell allowed only earned run for Rays./JEFFREY S. KING

Snell went four innings and Yonny Chirinos went five, allowing a combined five hitss. Jose Abreu hit a home run, and Tim Anderson scored on Leury Garcia's bunt single.

The Rays have nine hits combined in the last two games.

In the ninth, third baseman Matt Duffy threw wide to first on the bunt and allowed the winning run to score.

Matt Duffy had one of the Rays' three hits./JEFFREY S. KING

Matt Duffy had one of the Rays' three hits./JEFFREY S. KING

"In that situation you always try to err on the side of going to get the ball if it’s anywhere near you," Duffy said. "I was trying to be sure with the transfer and I know (García) gets down the line pretty well. I did everything right up until the throw, just missed right.

"I didn’t rush it. Not a bad grip. Just air mailed it a little bit I guess. I try to replay it in my mind and it was just a physical mistake.”

Duffy was at a loss to describe the team's hitting woes.

“I think that it seems like for us at least offensively we feed off each other

Chirinos pitched well, but took the loss./JEFFREY S. KING

Chirinos pitched well, but took the loss./JEFFREY S. KING

kind of in both directions, I feel like. A couple guys get hot, everybody goes and vice-versa. I feel like everybody is trying to do too much. Kind of evident yesterday, we didn’t make any adjustments on Giolito. He wasn’t commanding his fastball and we weren’t able to let the ball get deep and look for an off-speed pitch. I feel like (we had) some big swings off Rodon today. I think we need to relax a little bit and put together good at-bats and calm down.”

Rays' manager Kevin Cash was pleased with his pitching. Snell worked four innings after missing time with an injury and allowed just three hits and one run..

Jake Bauers makes the play at first for Rays./JEFFREY S. KING

Jake Bauers makes the play at first for Rays./JEFFREY S. KING

“He looked good," Cash said. "All I really cared about was that he got the ball over the plate, he was healthy and came out of the game feeling one hundred percent. The strike throwing wasn’t at his sharpest, but that’s to be expected with him getting two weeks off.”

Snell showed no effects from his injury.

"Physically, I felt good," Snell said. "I was frustrated with inconsistency, but it’s been awhile since I’ve thrown. The curveball was looking more like a slurve today. That’s upsetting because I like it when it’s more 12-6 up and down. The changeup was good. There were times when it wasn’t good, but for the most part, with the changeup I was very happy.

Carlos Gomez slides into second base./JEFFREY S. KING

Carlos Gomez slides into second base./JEFFREY S. KING

"The slider, I’ll need to improve the fastball command, I was frustrated with it. I was happy that I felt good and it was coming out easy. It was exciting to get back out there. I was amped. I was happy to have Sooky behind the plate. Good defense. Got the double play. Got the Mallex-Adames-Sooky to get out Davidson. That was a great play. Overall, happy with the way I felt, but I definitely have a lot of room to improve.”

The only run Snell allowed was the home run to Abreu.

Adames steals a base for Tampa Bay./JEFFREY S. KING

Adames steals a base for Tampa Bay./JEFFREY S. KING

“From the way I released it, I’m not upset about it," Snell said. "I’m more upset about a 2-0 count to get there. I mean, what is he looking for? A fastball? He’s going to do that. That’s why he’s getting paid good to do so. I’m not mad at that pitch. I’m mad at the two before that. If I’m ahead, he’s not taking that swing and we aren’t getting that result. I’m more upset with me falling behind, which happened more than I would have liked. Definitely looking forward to growing and getting better and moving past this.”

Chirinos went the final five innings and gave up just two hits. He took his fourth loss.

Kevin Cash is still looking for offense./JEFFREY S. KING

Kevin Cash is still looking for offense./JEFFREY S. KING

"That was the bright spot of the day," Cash said. "The tempo was significantly better. The strike throwing was better. He went after it. Got his (velocity) up, 94-96 (mph), and a lot of dive-bombing splits that helped a lot and got some strikeouts for him.”

Once again, the Rays are one game above ,500. In 15 games, the Rays are 7-8 since the all-star break.

Today, the Rays try to avoid their eighth sweep of the season. Hunter Wood will start for Tampa Bay against former Ray James Shields (4-13). The game begins at 1:10 p.m. at the Trop.

Aki Iwamura greets former Rays' champions./JEFFRY S. KING

Aki Iwamura greets former Rays' champions./JEFFRY S. KING

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