The next step for the Tampa Bay Rays started out with a stumble Monday night.
Playing at home, with their ace pitcher on the mound, with an early two-run lead, the Rays lost 7-3 to the Cleveland Guardians at Tropicana Field. Cleveland had 14 hits, scoring seven runs in their last four at-bats.
Drew Rasmussen, dominant in the second half of the regular season, gave up eight hits in six innings. The Rays' bullpen gave up six more hits and five more runs.
The Rays are home again tonight at 8 against Cleveland. Then the teams go to Cleveland for the next three games, which means the Rays will have to win one on the road to force the series back to the Trop.
"I thought he was outstanding," Rays' manager Kevin Cash said. "I thought he threw an incredible ball game.
"You gotta give credit to Cleveland's lineup. They really put some pitches on him and some longer at-bats early on. But I felt like after the third or fourth inning, he really settled in. But Ras was awesome."
Diaz had two hits./KIM HUKARI
Freddy Peralta will start for the Rays against Parker Messick.
Peralta will need more support from his offense, which is hitting just .209 in the post-season.
The Rays opened the game with four hits and two runs in the first inning. The Rays managed just three hits and one run in their last eight at-bats.
Jose Ramirez and Chase DeLauter each had three hits for Cleveland. Yandy Diaz and Jonny DeLuca had two apiece for Tampa Bay.
Junior Caminero and DeLuca each drove in runs in the first. Cedric Mullins homered in the eighth for the Rays' final run,
For 58 minutes and 44 seconds, it was anybody's game.
Then it was Hagel time.
Lightning forward Brandon Hagel took over the closing minutes of Tampa Bay's 5-3 win Saturday night. Hagel scored twice in the last 1:44, completing a hat-trick in the Bolts' first win on the road of the season over the New York Islanders.
The Lightning improved its record to 4-1.
Hagel broke a 3-3 tie with his second goal of the night. Twenty-one seconds later, he added an empty netter. Hagel now has four goals on the season.
Jake Guentzel had two goals for the Bolts.
Tampa Bay led by two goals twice, at 2-0 and 3-1, but couldn't hold it.
Andrei Vasilevskiy won his third game for the Bolts. He stopped 20 of 23 shots.
The Bolts play at the New York Rangers on Tuesday night at 7:15. at Madison Square Gardens.
The fall is complete. The collapse of the Florida Gators had occurred.
The Gators lost their second straight game -- another blowout -- in a 38019 loss ar home. In their last two games. Florida has given up 83 points. Three games ago, the Gators beat Ole Miss 52-28 and looked like a contender.
South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers threw for 279 yards and four touchdowns.
Florida's Bailey Stockton caught eight passes for 127 yards.
Long before the rout was underway, FSU's Mike Norvell seemed to be making a plea for a second look.
Then, the Seminoles seemed to say "never mind."
Let his seat get heated again.
The Seminoles jumped to a 14-0 lead, and were in the shadow of the Louisville goal line. And then it all went in the dumpster.
Despite the good start, FSU lost to Louisville 44-20 on the road. The Cardinals ran for 397 yards, including 235 by Isaac Brown.
After taking their two-touchdown lead, the Seminoles were outscored 44-6.
There for a while, however, things looked good for FSU. Ashton Daniels ran seven yards for a score, and Daniels hit Micahi Danzy on a 29-yard touchdown.
FSU then drove 60 yards, getting to the Louisville 3. But FSU went for it on fourth down and was stopped.
On the first play after that, Brown sprinted 97 yards.
Before the game was over, Louisville scored on touchdowns of 3, 3, 1,68 and 44 yards.
FSU will travel to Miami to face the fourth-ranked Hurricanes next Saturday night at 7 p.m.
Friday, 4 a.m. Just when you thought you had these Tampa Bay Bucs, they go and pull off something like this. They went on the road and beat Dallas. A desperate Bucs took their winless team on the road and beat the Cowboys, 24-16. The Bucs overcame their rookie quarterback, 92 yards worth of penalties […]
Friday, 3:30 a.m. Was it an illusion? The new energy? The fast start? The imported roster? After another defeat, there is room to doubt the new era of the South Florida Bulls. The Bulls lost a 31-24 game to the University of Texas-San Antonio Thursday night. It dropped the Bulls to 4-2 after their 4-0 […]
Friday, 3 a.m. Perhaps there is something new about the Tampa Bay Lightning, after all. The Bolts won their third staight game Thursday night at Benchmark International Arena, beating the Minnesota Wild 3-2. In the game, new backup goaltender Dennis Hildeby won his debut in net for the Bolts. Hildeby stopped 34 of 36 shots […]
Thursday, 4 a.m. There is something special about dancing at your rival’s funeral. The Tampa Bay Rays keep coming to Yankee Stadium to party. Already, they had celebrated clinching the AL East there. This was bigger. The Rays completed a sweep of a strong Yankees’ team Wednesday night, polishing of New York in a 4-3 […]
Tuesday, 4 a.m. Want to talk history? Want to talk payrolls? Want to talk legends? Or, perhaps, you would prefer to talk about now. And the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays jumped to a huge two-game lead in their American League playoff series against the Yankees. The Rays won for the 100th time this season […]
Tuesday, 3 p.m. The Tampa Bay Lightning seems to be easing into its new season. Still, nights like this will do until things get serious. The Bolts won their second game in three tries Monday night, stopping the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1 at Benchmark International Arena. Granted, the Bolts are still having trouble finishing — they […]
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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.
