This time, there would be no comeback. The fireworks were put on hold. Historians can put away their magnifying glasses.
This time, there was only the sight of an old friend dominating.
A night after an historic comeback, the Rays were handcuffed by former teammate Charlie Morton in a 4-1 defeat.
Morton, 41, gave up just one run over six innings to earn a split in the four-game series with the Rays. Colton Cowser hit a three-run homer to make the difference.
The Rays loaded the bases in with two outs in the ninth, but Jake Mangum filed out to end the threat.
The Rays were one-for-nine with runners in scoring position.
The Rays open a series with Detroit tonight at 7:05 p.m. at Steinbrenner Field. Shane Baz will start for the Tampa Bay against Jack Flaherty.Morton cools off
The situation wasn’t just dire. It was ridiculous.
The Rays were being thrashed. It was 8-0, two innings into the game, and the Baltimore Orioles were hitting the baseball into the street. Taj Bradley had been chased from the game only four outs into it. It was turning into one of those games you turn off and forget about it.
And then the Rays came back, and came back, and came back again. In the end, they would win 12-8, and if the game had gone any longer, they might have scored 20. They had 18 hits and five walks.
Ir was the largest comeback in the majors this year and matched a franchise record.
In their comeback, the Rays scored three runs in the third and four in the fifth and seventh.
Before Thursday, their largest comeback had been from five runs down.
— Junior Caminero went four-for-five on the day with two RBI.
— Jonathan Aranda went three-for-five with two RBI.
— Brandon Lowe had two hits off the bench, including a two-run homer to tie the game at eight.
—Curtis Mead, Christopher Morel and Yandy Diaz all had two hits.
— Bradley was roughed up, giving up six earned runs in his inning and a third. But the bullpen went 7 2/3 innings and gave up just one hit and one run.
— The Rays had hits in nine of its 13 opportunities with men on base.
The Rays have now scored 44 runs in their last six games, five of them resulting in victories. They’ve totaled 73 hits.
The Rays are now 41-33 on the season and are just a game and a half behind the New York Yankees. They’re 27-16 since the start of May.
The Rays play Baltimore at Steinbrenner Field at 7:05 p.m. Drew Rasmussen will start for the Rays against Charlie Morton.
After a week of swinging like the big teams, the Rays were quieted by Baltimore’s Dean Kremer on Tuesday. They had scored 31 runs in their previous four games; they managed just one Yuesay . They had 48 hits; on Tuesday they had just seven in a 5-1 loss to Baltimore.
The Rays gave up single runs in five innings in the loss. They scored only when Junior Caminero singled in Brandon Lowe to tie the game in the fourth.
The Rays were one-for-six with runners in scoring position.
Both Brandon Lowe and Caminero had two hits.
Starter Zack Littell gave up three earned runs over his six innings. Ramon Laureano drove in two runs and Jordan Westburg had three hits for Baltimore.
The teams conclude their series tonight at 7:35 p.m. Taj Bradley will start for the Rays against Trevor Rogers.
Perhaps they aren’t nervous at all. After all, the New York Yankees have so much money tied into so much talent, because they are comfortable there at the top of the AL East.
On the other hand, how can they not notice how fast the Tampa Bay Rays are coming up behind them.
The Rays won again Monday, and it was lopsided again. It was 7-1 this time. After four straight of these bashings — they’ve scored at least seven runs in all of them — the Rays now find themselves at 40-32, only 2 1/2 games behind the Yankees. The Rays have now won 19 of their last 25 games.
They had pitching Monday. Ryan Pepiot struck out a season high 11 batters in upping his record to 4-6. He gave up just four hits in his eight innings of work. Forrest Whitleyfinished up with a perfect ninth inning.
They had hitting, too. Jake Mangum had three hits (and drove in three runs). Brandon Lowe, Jonathan Aranda, Junior Caminero and Christopher Morel all had two hits.
Both Josh Lowe and Brandon Lowe each homered.
The Rays play Baltimore again tonight at Steinbrenner Field at 7:35 pm. Zack Littell will start for the Rays against Dean Kremer.
Monday, 4 a.m. Nine more runs. Nine more hits. Another lopsided victory. Don’t look now, but the Tampa Bay Rays suddenly have the look of a very good baseball. They completed a sweep over the New York Mets, the best team in the National League, in lopsided fashion. It was 9-0, and it completed a […]
Sunday, 4 a.m. For the second straight game, the Tampa Bay Rays have taken the best the National League has to offer and handled them. This time, it was an 8-4 win over the Mets, who entered the series on a six-game winning streak and were 21 games over .500. The Rays, too, are playing […]
Saturday, 4 a.m. The hole was deep and ominous, the kind of hole that can bury a team. It didn’t take long for the Tampa Bay Rays to bury themselves there. It didn’t take long for them to climb out of it either. It was the sixth inning of Friday’s game against the New York […]
Thursday, 4 a.m. The Tampa Bay Rays have a way of healing ailing pitchers. Sadly, it’s the other team’s pitchers. One night after being dominated by Lucas Giolito, the Rays scuffled against Walker Buehler Wednesday night. Buehler, 5-4, entered the game with a 5.18 ERA. Still, he looked large against the Rays in a 4-3 […]
Wednesday, 4 a.m. Figures. One night after scoring 11 runs, riding an offensive rebirth, the bats of the Tampa Bay Rays fell quiet again Tuesday night. The Rays fell to Boston, 3-1. They managed just three hits and were just one-for-four with runners in scoring position. Hitting against Lucas Giolito, who has been awful this […]
Tuesday, 4 a.m. Is it over? Finally? The Tampa Bay Rays finally found a lead they could hold onto Monday night, beating the Boston Red Sox 10-8 in 11 innings. Good thing. They must have been exhausted from having leads slip through their fingers. The Rays kept building leads, and then they kept giving them […]
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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.