Archer lasted 11 outs against Orioles./TRAVIS PENDERGRASS
Monday, 2 a.m.
And so, today's topic for debate with the Tampa Bay Rays.
Is Chris Archer to be considered an ace?
And has he ever been?
Archer, whose stuff is constantly praised by the Rays, took another one on the chin Sunday afternoon. He got only 11 outs, and he suffered his 12th loss (nine wins) of the season. In September, Archer is 0-5 with a 9.72 ERA. Hitters are batting .363 against him.
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Sucre tied the game in the second with a homer../STEVE MUNCIE
Archer has a 50-63 career record.
“It looked like he couldn't find command with his slider,” said manager Kevin Cash. “When he needed to throw sliders, it wasn't there for him.”
Archer acknowledged his rough stretch.
“I just haven't been executing at a high enough level. Period," Archer said. "Some games it's been my heater, today in particular it was my breaking ball. And no matter if you throw 95-plus [mph], if you have nothing to go with it, you're not gonna last very long. I think that's what happened today.
Kiermaier led off the game with a homer./CARMEN MANDATO
“Honestly, if I remove maybe three starts, I had a terrific year. But, you put in three starts where I gave up about 18 runs, it's very mediocre for me," Archer said. "But, for me personally, I still feel good about the overall body of work. But, statistically, if you're looking strictly at my ERA and my win-loss, they don't look that great and I think that's been mainly from three outings."
Archer got off to a rough start, surrending four runs in the first to Baltimore. The Rays managed to tie the game in the second, but Archer gave up another pair of runs in the fourth and went on to take the loss.
Tampa Bay is now 76-80, which means they would have to win their final six games to finish with a winning record. The Rays are one game from elimiation from the wild-card chase.
Logan Morrison, Corey Dickerson and Jesus Sucre all had two hits for the Rays.
Tampa Bay is off today, then travels to New York for a three-game set with the Yankees. Blake Snell will pitch the opener for the Rays against C.C. Sabathia at 7:05 p.m. at Yankee Stadium.
Morrison had two hits for the Rays./JEFFREY S. KING
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