Be careful when walking around the American League East these days.
A Tampa Bay Ray might fall on you.
The Rays, currently playing as poorly has any team in baseball, were jolted again Tuesday night at Tropicana Field. They lost 8-0 to the dreadful Detroit Tigers, only the third time they have been shut out this season.
The Rays have lost seven of their last nine games. They've given up 67 runs in that stretch, and in five of the losses, they've given up eight runs or more.
The Tigers jumped the Rays early, scoring twice in the first inning and three times in the second.
Tigers starter Jack Flaherty, winless in seven games coming in, threw five shutout innings to get his first victory.
The Rays had just five hits, two of them by Richie Palacios.
The Tigers have hit eight home runs in their two wins over the Rays.
The Rays and Tigers play again today at 1:10 p.m. at Tropicana Field. Nick Martinez (5-1) will start for the Rays against Troy Melton(1-0).
How pronounced is the recent slump by the Tampa Bay Rays?
These days, they seem to be struggling against last-place teams.
The Rays made the woeful Detroit Tigers -- who came in with a record that was tied for the worst in baseball -- look like a World Series contender in Monday night's 10-9 loss at Tropicana Field.
Tampa gave up five home runs, including three straight in the third inning. The Rays fell behind by six runs twice.
The Tigers came in 4-21 in their last 25 games.
Still, the Rays can surrender runs to just about anyone. In their last eight games, they have given up nine runs or more four times.
Detroit's Dillon Dingler had two home runs, four hits and four RBI. Kerry Carpenter and Riley Greene each had three hits. Tampa Bay has now lost two of their last three games to two of the worst teams in baseball (Detroit and the Las Angeles Angels).
For the Rays, Yandy Diaz had three hits. Junior Caminero and Ryan Vilade had home runs.
The Rays and Tigers play again tonight at 6:40 p.m. at Tropicana Field. Steven Matz (4-2) will start for the Rays against Jack Flaherty (0-7).
The Tampa Bay Rays didn't exactly sprint to their latest series win.
They just walked.
The Rays walked nine times, two of them with the bases loaded, to capture a 5-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels Sunday. It was their sixth straight series win at Tropicana Field.
The Rays have walked 17 times in their last two games against the Angels, who have walked the second-most batters in the majors, behind only Houston.
Shane McClanahan improved his record to 6-2, pitching five innings of one-run baseball. Bryan Baker notched his 16th save.
Taylor Walls had two hits for the Rays, but the one he'll likely remember was a third-inning smash with the bases loaded for what would have been a grand slam. Former Ray Jose Siri reached over the fence to rob him.
Jonathan Aranda homered for his 43rd RBI. Aranda has a nine-game hitting streak and hit .374 for May.
Yandy Diaz and Cedric Mullins walked in runs. Victor Mesa Jr. and Ben Willliamson singled in runs.
The Rays are home at Tropicana again tonight, facing Detroit in a 6:40 p.m. game. Griffin Jax will start for the Rays. The Tigers have not announced a starter.
One day after ending a season-worst four-game losing streak, the Tampa Bay Rays returned to sloppy baseball again Saturday afternoon.
The Rays gave up four runs in the first and six in the ninth, going on to absorb a 14-3 pummeling at the hands of the Los Angeles Angels, the last-place team in the AL West.
It was ugly beyond description, from Wade Meckler's first-inning grand slam to back-to-back homers by Jo Adell and Oswald Peraza in the ninth.
The Rays gave up 11 hits, six walks, two hit batters and a passed ball. In their last six games, the Rays have given up 45 runs.
The Rays were just one-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
Yandy Diaz hit his third home run in two days. Junior Caminero had two doubled.
The Rays left the bases loaded in the first inning and the sixth.
Starting pitcher Drew Rasmusdsen lasted just four innings and gave up five earned runs.
The Rays and Angels close out their series today at 1:40 p.m. at Tropicana Field. Shane McClanahan will start for the Rayds against Jack Kochanowicz.
Saturday, 4 a.m. It was the seventh inning when the ugly came off of the baseball for the Tampa Bay Rays. They were down 2-1, to a mediocre Angels’ team from Los Angeles. Home field didn’t seem to be helping them. A fifth straight loss was possible. And then the Rays’ woke up. The Rays […]
Thursday, 4 a.m. No, really. They’re in first place. Oh, sure, the Tampa Bay Rays aren’t playing like it. They were clobbered again Wednesday night, 11-2 by Baltimore at Camden Yards. It left the Rays with a season-long four-game losing streak as their lead in the AL East dwindled. It was embarrassing. The Rays didn’t […]
Wednesday, 4 a.m. Are we seeing a team in a brief tailspin, or is the situation with the Tampa Bay Rays more dire? Are they a team on the verge of unraveling? The Rays lost their third straight game Tuesday night, playing a sloppy game in a 6-1 loss to the Baltimore Orioles at Camden […]
Tuesday, 4 a.m. How many times can a team blow a game? How many leads can it squander? Four times, the Tampa Bay Rays took a lead over the Baltimore Orioles Monday at Camden Yards. Every time, they let the O’s roar back, until the final time resulted in a 9-7 win in 13 innings. […]
Monday, 4 a.m. When you’re battling in a close game, players will remind you that one mistake can beat you. Sunday, that mistake belonged to the Tampa Bay Rays. Locked in a scoreless tie in the eighth inning, the Rays were a couple of feet away from taking the lead. But Junior Caminero tried to […]
Sunday, 4 a.m. Sometimes, the key to a team’s improvement are the additions it makes. Take the Tampa Bay Rays, who spent their off-season bringing in help in the form of Nick Martinez and Steven Matz, among others. And sometimes, the key is know who to move on from. The Rays have had some mixed […]
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About Gary Shelton
• No one covers Tampa Bay like Gary Shelton.
• No one has seen as many moments, as many athletes, as many coaches as he has over the last quarter of a century.
• No one has won more awards, including two national Associated Press Sports Editors Best Columnist awards and eight top 10 finishes. He also just received his sixth Sportswriter of the Year award for Florida by the NSSA.
• No one has seen more big events, including 29 Super Bowls, 10 Olympics and 11 Final Fours. Gary still goes into the locker rooms to obtain his stories.
• No one has made you angrier, or laugh louder, or think harder about what he has written.
Now, he begins a website designed to keep him in touch with the readers who have grown up on his words.
