Saturday, 5:45 a.m.
They can feel pride in the way they reached out.
They can feel pride in the money they raised.
They can feel pride in that they made things a bit better.
The baseball game? That, the Tampa Bay Rays can take little pride in.
The Rays were clobbered by the San Francisco Giants on Pride Night. They lacked enough pitching, or enough hitting, to make a dent in the game.
Content beyond this point is for members only.
Already a member? To view the rest of this column, sign in using the handy "Sign In" button located in the upper right corner of the GarySheltonSports.com blog (its at the far right of the navigation bar under Gary's photo)!
Not a member? It's easy to subscribe so you can view the rest of this column and all other premium content on GarySheltonSports.com.
Chris Archer, for instance, gave up two more first-inning runs, and has now given up 16 in 15 first innings. A walk and back-to-back doubles got the Giants on the board. In the fourth, Gregor Blanca singled in two more runs.
“I thought he threw the ball all right,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. The walk in the first was kind of telling. You get the first two outs, then it’s a walk, and before you blink your eyes you’re down 2-0. We’ve got to prevent those big innings from happening, and it starts with the third batter to walk.”
In all, Archer gave up four runs, three of them earned.
“I don’t really think about (his first inning struggles) that much,” Archer said.
“After every game I analyze what I can do better and I think if I don’t walk that guy then things are a little bit different. But Buster Posey hit a good pitch there, and then the pitch that they scored on was not a very well-struck ball. I feel like if I force them to put the ball in play, I’m able to minimize the damage and keep it a little closer from the beginning. ... I rarely change my mentality. The plan is always to be aggressive, to always attack and we’re human sometimes we don’t hit our spot and that’s what happened to that batter in the first inning.”
Curt Casali was guilty of catcher's interference before Blanco's single.
“Chris was good, with the exception of a couple pitches and a bonehead move on my part,” Casali said. "I’m never trying to get a catcher’s interference, I’m always trying to help him out, get under the baseball and steal strikes for him, but sometimes my glove will run into a long swing. It ended up costing him a couple runs. I feel pretty bad about that. ... But overall I’ve been really impressed with his last couple outings. I think his fastball command has been much better, and the rest of his pitches have been on point as well.”
The Rays' offense, meanwhile, managed only four hits. The fourth one, with one strike to go, was a home run by Brad Miller.
The Rays play the Giants again today when Matt Moore faces Jake Peavy.
{ 0 comments… read it below or Subscriptions }