Blake Snell hasn't made it past the fourth in his last two starts./STEVEN MUNCIE
Wednesday, 4 a.m.
What in the hell is wrong with Blake Snell?
Snell, the best of the Rays last year in a Cy Young award-winning season, was clobbered for the second time in eight days,,leaving some to wonder if his broken right toe has healed properly. He lost 8-2 in the second game of a double-header after the Rays lost the first game 3-2.
Snell got only nine outs and gave up six hits, three walks and a balk. In his last two outings combined, Snell has recorded just 19 outs, has given up 11 hits and 13 runs. He has struck out only five.
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Stanek gave up three runs in the first./JEFFREY S. KING
Snell credited the Royals for being "locked in."
"I did a lot of damage to myself," he said. "Two leadoff walks, balking. That was frustrating. I looked at it. I did balk. There's a lot that I’ve got to work on. It's a day you have to learn from, get better from.
"Last year, I had three bad games like that. No one remembers them, but i remember it."
Snell is now 2-3 on the year with a 4.31 earned run average.
"It was uncharacteristic," Rays manger Kevin Cash said. "He could just never get it right for whatever reason. The off-speed pitches weren’t coming easy for him. He could never make that adjustment of getting in the zone and staying consistent with it.
"The velo (velocity) is there. The fastball's there. The commannd was not there today. He just didn't have command of his pitches."
The Rays were behind 8-0 in the second game before Ji-Man Choi and Daniel Robertson hit home runs. In the first game, the Rays fell behind early and weren't able to come back.
In both games, Kansas City took a 3-0 lead in the first inning.
The Rays play close out their series against the Royals today at Kaufman Stadium. Charlie Morton of Tampa Bay will pitch against Danny Duffy in a game that will begin at 2:15 p.m.
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