Yarbrough controlled the Red Sox in Game One./JEFFREY S. KING
Sunday, 4 a.m.
As it turns out, the Tampa Bay Rays do not have a limitless supply of starting pitchers, after all.
It's close, but eventually, there is a drop off.
One night after Yonny Chirinos was exceptional, and hours after Ryan Yarbrough was impressive, the Rays came up short. They dropped a 5-1 decision to David Price and the Boston Red Sox in the nightcap of Saturday's doubleheader, dropping them into a tie for first place in the AL East with the New York Yankees.
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Rays' d'Arnaud hit a three-run homer./CHUCK MULLER
After Yarbrough tamed the Red Sox with four hits over 7 2/3 innings, a similar performance to the one Chirinos put out on Saturday night, the Rays came back with their opener strategy against ex-Ray Price, but Price struck out 10 and tamed the Rays' bats in the victory.
Guillermo Heredia had a tough night in left field, and was unable to come up with two catches that allowed three runs to score.
Ryan Stanek was solid in his 1 1/3 innings as the opener, but Colin Poche gave up two earned runs and Austin Pruitt three in the loss.
In the opener, Yarbrough ran his record to 5-2 in a 9-2 victory.
"He picked up right where Yonny left off yesterday," said Rays' manager Kevin Cash. "We had two really, really strong starts from some young pitchers. They go about it differently, but Yarbs was outstanding.
Travis d'Arnaud hit a three-run homer in the first game, and the Rays' had 13 hits.
In the second game, however, they managed just six hits. "We never could get the big hit," Cash said.
How were Chirinos and Yarbrough able to control the Red Sox bats?
"They’re good," Cash said. "We’ve got a lot of confidence in those guys. Anytime you come in to face some of the guys in that lineup... They feed off each other. When you have good pitchers generally things can go your way."
The Rays close out their series against the Red Sox today at 1:05 p.m. at Fenway Park. Blake Snell pitches for the Rays against Eduardo Rodriguez.
The Rays are now 39-24 on the season.
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