During their recent slide in the American League, you can add this to the list of woes of the Tampa Bay Rays.
They're having trouble holding onto a lead.
The Rays, 6-13 in their last 19 games, saw an early lead painfully whittled down in a 4-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers Monday night at Dodger Stadium.
The Rays took a 3-0 lead early on a two-run homer by Ryan Vilade and a bunt by Taylor Walls. Rays' starter Nick Martinez gave up a tying three-run homer to Kyle Tucker in the second. Reliever Steven Matz gave up the go ahead homer on a pinch-hit blast by Miguel Rojas.
The Rays did not score in their final eight at-bats. Jonathan Aranda, Junior Caminero and Vilade all had two hitss, but the rest of the Ras could manage only two more.
Aranda was thrown out at the plate in the third inning.
The Rays and Dodgers play again tonight at 10:10 p.m. at Dodger Stadium. Drew Rasmussen (6-2) of the Rays will face Justin Wrobleski (7-2)
There for a while, he was the incredible shrinking superstar.
Oh, no one doubted the ability of Junior Caminero. But as he walked toward the plate, he was mired in a 1-11 slump. In his most recent seven-plus games, he was 4-31 as the Rays' season spun out of control.
The Rays were in a 3-3 tie in the eighth inning. Caminero jumped on the second pitch he saw, driving it out of the park for a two-run homer, his 15th.
The homer sparked a five-run eighth, leading the Rays to an 8-3 win over the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium.
Victor Mesa also homered in the eighth. Ben Williamson had homered earlier in the game.
The Rays led 3-1 before the Angels tied things in the fifth on a home run by Donovan Walton and a single by Jo Adell.
The Rays pieced five pitchers together for the win. They allowed just five hits. Kevin Kelly (4-2) got the win.
Jonathan Aranda, Cedric Mullins and Mesa Jr. all had two hits for the Rays. Chandler Simpson had a two-run single.
The Rays now take on the L.A. Dodgers beginning tonight at Dodger Stadium at 10 p.m. Nick Martinez (6-2) will start for the Rays against Eric Lauer (2-5).
The fall continues. Suddenly, they are a rock in water. They are a detached piece of a UFO falling to earth. They are a diver plummeting toward the pool surface.
They are the second-place Tampa Bay Rays, and they cannot stop the plunge.
The Rays fell behind the New York Yankees in the AL East after 34 days in the lead. They were manhandled Saturday night in Anaheim, losing 8-0 to the Los Angeles Angels.
Get this: In five games against the Rays, the Angels have won three times. Against the rest of the league, the Angels are 26-40.
Saturday night was an embarrassment. The hitters were handcuffed by Jose Soriano, who gave up just three hits in five inning. The pitchers were clobbered, giving up 15 hits..
Griffin Jax started for the Rays. He gave up five hits in five innings, but the only run he gave up was unearned (scoring on a Taylor Walls error).
But Garrett Cleavinger gave up two runs in one-third of an inning. Craig Kimbrell gave up a run in two-thirds of an inning. Cole Susler gave up four runs in two-thirds of an inning and Cam Booser gave up one in an inning and a third.
The offense was just as bad. They managed just five hits, all singles. In the last two nights, the Rays have gone 3-for-19 with runners in scoring position.
Jo Adell of the Angels had four hits himself. Donovan Walton had three.
The Rays try to salvage a game out of the series today at 4:07 p.m. at Angel Stadium. The Rays have not announced a starter to go against the Angels' Grayson Rodriguez.
Could someone please get a message to the Tampa Bay Rays?
Maybe remind them that, technically, the Los Angeles Angels are an awful baseball team.
Oh, you wouldn't know by their head to head meetings. Counting Friday night's 4-3 loss, the Rays have lost three of four to the Angels. They've given up 25 runs in their four games.
Otherwise, the Angels have struggled. They're in last place in the AL West and in a tie for last in the American League.
Against the Rays, however, the Angels are juggernauts. They jumped Rays' starter Shane McClanahan early, scoring all four runs on eight hits in only four innings.
The Rays climbed back into the game thanks to Jonathan Aranda, who drove in all three runs with singles in the fifth and ninth. But the Rays left the bases loaded in the first and the ninth.
In all, Tampa Bay left 10 runners on base (six walks) and, aside from Aranda, were one-for-eight with runners in scoring position.
The Rays and Angels play again tonight at 10:07 p.m. at Angels' Stadium. Griffin Jax will start for the Rays against Jose Soriano for the Angels.
Thursday, 4 a.m. In the race for ace of the Tampa Bay Rays, enter Drew Rasmussen’s name to the list. Rasmussen was overpowering Wednesday afternoon in a 7-5 victory over the Boston Red Sox at Tropicana Field. The win completed the sweep of Boston, For the second straight game, Rasmusen (6-2) was impressive. He went […]
Wednesday, 4 a.m. When the pitching is right, so too are the Tampa Bay Rays. It was clear during the team’s recent tumble. It was clear when the Rays took hold of the AL East. Frankly, it’s still obvious. Nick Martinez threw seven strong innings Tuesday night, handcuffing the Boston Red Sox in a 4-3 […]
Tuesday, 4 a.m. It is well known how strong Yandy Diaz is. Still, carrying an entire baseball team is impressive. Diaz drove in two of the Rays’ three runs in a 3-1 win over the Boston Red Sox at Tropicana Field Monday night. Diaz, hitting a league-leading .325 on the season, led off the game […]
Monday, 4 a.m. You know a team is going badly when it keeps getting mugged on Easy Street. The Tampa Bay Rays continued its struggles against losing teams Sunday afternoon, losing a 4-1 game to the Florida Marlins at loanDepot Park. In their last four series, the Rays have been swept by Baltimore (playing .477 […]
Sunday, 4 a.m. The Tampa Bay Rays continue to try to get a foothold in order to turn around a season that has gotten off-track. One day after snapping their three-game losing streak (and a span where they lost eight of 10), the Rays’ bats froze in a 4-3 loss to the Florida Marlins and […]
Saturday, 4 a.m. Turns out, the Rescue Ranger of the Tampa Bay Rays wears a red beard. Dennis Rasmussen brought relief to the slumping Tampa Bay Rays, pitching a one-hit gem (seven innings) in a 6-0 shutout over the Florida Marlins. Rasmussen allowed only a second-inning single to Javier Sanoja. He struck out nine. Perhaps […]
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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.
