Archer hasn't won a game since May./CARMEN MANDATO
Saturday, 3 a.m.
The less said about their latest effort the better. But maybe this will lead the discussion today.
Who was the worst Ray Friday night?
Oh, there are candidates. After a 15-5 drubbing by the Orioles -- it was 4-3 going into the seventh -- Tampa Bay struggled on a lot of fronts.
For instance, there was starting pitcher Chris Archer, who gave up four runs (three earned) in six innings and struck out only three.
There was reliever Austin Pruitt, who went only 2/3 of an inning and gave up eight runs (six earned) and six hits.
There was emergency reliever Carlos Gomez, who retired only one batter, walked four and had two balks. He gave up three runs and was replaced as a pitcher by a catcher.
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Pruitt had a rough outing for the Rays./JEFFREY S. KING
In other words, this will be remembered simply. Ouch. It was the second time this season lowly Baltimore has scored at least 15 runs on Tampa Bay.
“It wasn’t a good day, to say the least," said Rays' manager Kevin Cash. "They had good at bats. Arch was pretty efficient for a while (until) they began to make adjustments, and it snowballed from there."
The loss left the Rays only one game above .500 at 52-51.
Gomez sputtered on the mound for Rays./CARMEN MANDATO
For Archer, it continued a rough stretch. He won two games in April and another in May.
“I felt like I had good stuff," Archer said. "They found a way to put the ball in play and find holes. I executed at a similar level to my last couple of starts. They’ve got good hitters over there and they moved the ball around. They went to the opposite field more than they usually do. I don’t feel like I did terrible, but obviously I need room for improvement.
"We hold ourselves to a high standard here. I had an 0-2 count on (Jonathan) Schoop. If that's a decent pitch, it would have had a different outcome. He might have gotten wood on it, but he wouldn't have hit it 400 feet."
Kiermaier had two hits for Rays../JEFFREY S. KING
In a 10-run loss, there aren't a lot of bright spots. However, rookie catcher Michael Perez had three hits. Kevin Kiermaier had two.
For Baltimore, Schoop hit a home run for the fifth consecutive game. He, Adam Jones and Danny Valencia all had three hits.
The Rays play Baltimore again at 7:05 p.m. tonight. The Rays have not announced a starting pitcher. The Orioles will go with Kevin Gausman.
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