At the start, it looked like a cakewalk. Before it was over for the Tampa Bay Rays, it was the trail of tears.
When a team loses at this time of the season, it can count on the things that slip through their fingers. That was true of the Rays on Thursday at Truist Field.
Start with a brilliant performance from Nick Martinez, who was going for his 15th win. He went 6 1/3 innings and allowed just two hits. Add in a game lost to the Yankees in the division race.
Ah, but the offense couldn't hold its own. The Rays got singles from three of their first four hitters, but had only two other hits the rest of the game. In that bases-loaded situation, Chandler Simpson hit a double play.
Mesa Jr. homered for Rays./TIM WIRT
The Braves scofed their three runs in the eighth, taking advantage of Kevin Kelly. Atlanta put together five straight hits, including a triple by Ozzie Albies and a double by Mike Yastrzemski -- neither of whom started the game.
The Rays' only run came on a pinch-hit home run by Victor Mesa Jr.
The loss allowed New York to close within three and a half games in the AL East race.
The Rays return home tonight for a game at 7:10 against the Astros at Tropicana Field. Drew Rasmussen will start for the Rays against Ethan Pecko (1-0) of Houston.
Griffin Jax, it turns out, wants to join in the fun.
Jax, the Rays' starting pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays, was on a personal trail of tears. He had lost four of his last five games, giving up 19 runs.
Thursday night, in a 7-2 win over Atlanta, he returned. Jax threw five innings of two-hit baseball. He's now 7-10 on the year.
The Rays, who won the opener 7-1, have now outscored the Braves 14-3 in the series and have 21 hits.
Mesa Jr. has been hot./KIM HUKARI
The Rays jumped on Atlanta early, scoring three runs in the second inning and three in the third.
Victor Mesa Jr. has quietly become a major contributor for the Rays. He had a home run and a single and scored twice. Chandler Simpson also had two hits.
The Rays close out their series against the Braves today at 12:15 p.m. at Truist Field. Nick Martinez (14-4) will start against Martin Perez (8-9).
Peralta won his third straight game Tuesday night, shutting down the Atlanta Braves in a 7-1 win at Truist Park.
Peralta, whose struggles continued after he was acquired from the New York Mets, seems to have found new footing with the Rays. has given up just three runs and 12 hits in his last three games.
Peralta gave up three hits in the first inning, but only two thereafter. The bullpen threw three perfect innings in relief.
Caminero leads the league in homers./KIM HUKARI
Offensively, the Rays belted four home runs to lead its way to the win. Junior Caminero hit his 39th of the year in the first inning. He was followed with homers from Liam Hicks, Yandy Diaz and Richie Palacios.
Diaz, Caminero and Victor Mesa Jr. all had two hits for the Rays.
The Rays play the Braves tonight at 7:15 at Truist Field. Griffin Jax (6-10) will start for the Rays against Reynaldo Lopez (4-3).
At the worst time imaginable, there is smoke rising from the bullpen of the Tampa Bay Rays.
Once again, the Rays struggled to get Texas batters out, leading to an 8-6loss. In four games against the Rangers, the Rays gave up 23 runs. The bullpen gave up 10 of them.
The Rays had a 5-1 lead in the fourth inning, but couldn't hold on.
Part of the difficulties were on the part of starter Ian Seymour, who gave up two home runs to Jake Burger.
Simpson's two hits left him at .308./KIM HUKARI
The Rays built their lead with a four-run second. Victor Mesa Jr. singled in Chandler Simpson. Then Nick Fortes brought in a run with a sacrifice bunt to score Jorge Mateo. Yandy Diaz singled in Mesa Jr and Jonathan Aranda scored Fortes on a sacrifice fly. The Rays had four of their nine hits in the inning.
In the fourth inning, Junior Caminero brought in Diaz with a sacrifice fly.
Diaz, Aranda, Simpson and Jonny DeLuca all had two hits for the Rays.
The Rays are off today. They resume play Tuesday in Atlanta. Freddy Peralta (7-11) will start for the Rays against A.J. Smith-Shawyer (0-1).
Sunday, 4 a.m. The Texas Rangers couldn’t wait to get to Jonathan Aranda. Looking back, perhaps they would like to rethink that. Aranda powered a three-run home run in the top of the 10th inning, leading the Rays to a 6-3 victory over the Texas Rangers. The Rays had led 3-1, but the Rangers came […]
Sunday, 3 a.m. Before you criticize, keep this in mind. A few months ago, they were strangers in shoulder pads. The quarterback didn’t know the receivers, who didn’t know the offensive linemen, who didn’t know the defensive backs, and so on. They were a roomful of mercenaries, brought in to form a team. So, yeah, […]
Saturday, 4 a.m. For once, Bryan Baker couldn’t slam shut the door. So Tyler Wells gave him a push. Baker, the top closer in the American League, came into the game seeking his 40th save as the Tampa Bay Rays led Texas, 7-5. But Baker, fighting illness, walked the first two batters he faced, and […]
Friday, 4 a.m. There are days you feel good about their chances. They will play well, or their opposition will play poorly, and you think that the Rays will be okay in their chase toward the American League East title. And then there are days like Thursday. Days when the offense dries up and the […]
Thursday, 4 a.m. Days like this aren’t supposed to happen in the middle of a pennant race. The Tampa Bay Rays were smothered Wednesday night, getting blown out 10-4 by the New York Mets at Tropicana Field. The Mets are the last-place team in the NL East. The Mets scored three runs in three different […]
Wednesday, 4 a.m. Suddenly, Freddy Peralta is a star again. At least, he is shining a lot more often. Peralta pitched his second straight strong game in a 6-2 victory over the New York Mets Tuesday night at Tropicana Field. After giving up a leadoff home run to Francisco Lindor, Peralta rebounded to throw six […]
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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.
