He smothers hope. He nails doors shut. He shuts off hope.
He makes winning scores stand up.
Baker saved his 36h game Wednesday night, making a 7-6 score stand up against the Toronto Blue Jays. The Rays led 7-1 after four innings, but the Jays spent most of the night chipping away at the lead.
Baker allowed the leadoff runner on with his own error to start the ninth, but he worked his way out of the jam. It was his 25th consecutive save.
Diaz hit his 19th home run./KIM HUKARI
The Rays built their big lead on a two-run homer by Yandy Diaz (his 19th), a double by Richie Palacios and bunt singles by Taylor Walls and Chandler Simpson. Junior Caminero brought in a run on a groundout.
Liam Hicks had two hits for the Rays.
The Rays and Jays play again today at 1:10 p.m. at Tropicana Field. Ian Seymour (9-3) will start for the Rays against Shane Bieber (4-2).
The bad news is in: The late-season tumble of the Tampa Bay Rays is not yet over.
Where they land, nobody knows.
The Rays dropped their fourth game in five tries Tuesday night, getting clobbered by Toronto 10-5 at Tropicana Field.
The Rays have been worn out this week by Baltimore and Toronto, the two last-place teams of the AL East. The Yankees are now within five games and the Red Sox are within six and a half.
Once again, the Rays couldn't slow down the other team. The Blue Jays scored 10 runs on 17 hits to win going away. George Springer, Jesus Sanchez and Ernie Clement all had three hits.
Rays' starter Nick Martinez gave up six earned runs in 3 2/3 innings. The Rays have now given up 36 runs and 61 hits in their last five games.
The Rays did get a two-run single from Taylor Walls. They scored on sacrifice flies by Cedric Mullins and Richie Palacios and a wild pitch that allowed Ryan Vilade to score.
The Rays had 13 hits themselves, including two each from Chandler Simpson, Junior Caminero, Yandy Diaz and Vilade.
The Rays and Jays play again tonight at 6:40 at Tropicana. Drew Rasmussen (12-5) is scheduled to start for the Rays against Maz Scherzer (1-5).
When the turmoil ended, perhaps you thought it would be because of a deep home run. Maybe a double off the wall. Maybe a ball delivered into the deep gap.
Instead, it was a bounding grounder off the bat of pinch-hitter Jonny DeLuca.
DeLuca, hitting for catcher Liam Hicks with the bases loaded in the seventh inning, hit a chopper over the head of Baltimore third baseman Christian Encarnacion-Strand to drive in two runs and give the Rays the lead in a 7-6 victory.
Baker worked overtime for the save./KIM HUKARI
The win broke a three-game losing streak by the Rays. Tampa Bay gave up 26 runs and 44 hits in the four games.
One of the stars of the game for the Rays was closer Bryan Baker, who recorded a five-out save (his 35th). On his way, Baker struck out Pete Alonso and got red-hot Gunnar Henderson on a groundout.
It was a good outing for a bullpen that has struggled lately. Rays' relievers had allowed 17 runs in the series.
The Rays got home runs from Yandy Diaz, Ryan Vilade and new addition Jorge Mateo (a two-run shot). Jonathan Aranda singled in a run.
The Rays got two hits from Diaz and Aranda.
Shane McClanahan made his return to the rotation, but he lasted only 10 outs.
The Rays begin a three-game series against Toronto tonight at Tropicana Field at 6:40. Nick Martinez (12-3) is expected to start for the Rays against Jose Soriano (9-6).
The mini-slump has turned into a slide. The losing streak has gone on for three games now. The bullpen is on fire. The Big Three are shrinking. Too few hits, too few runs.
Ouch.
The Tampa Bay Rays' swoon continues. The Rays lost to the last-place Baltimore Orioles for the third straight outing, and it wasn't pretty. It was 10-2, and there are few spots that looked good.
-- The vaunted Big Three of Yandy Diaz, Jonathan Aranda and Junior Caminero went a combined one-for-12. For the three games, they are nine-for-40.
-- The bullpen gave up eight runs, bringing their total to 20 for the series.
-- The Rays were two-for-six with runners in scoring position, and are eight-for-28 for the series. They left eight runners on base, and have left 30 on for the series.
Peralta had another short start./KIM HUKARI
The Rays gave up three runs in the fifth and seven in the sixth in their loss.
The only runs they scored were on a home run by Ryan Vilade and a single by Jorge Mateo. Vilade had three hits for the Rays. Chandler Simpson had two.
The Rays and Orioles finish their series tonight at 6:05 p.m. at Tropicana Field. Nick Martinez (12-3) will start for the Rays against Brandon Young (9-3).
Sunday, 4 a.m. Remember this one as a squandered opportunity. The reason, of course, were several other smaller squandered opportunities. The Tampa Bay Rays lost their second straight game Saturday evening, falling 4-3 in 10 innings to the Baltimore Orioles at Tropicana Field. The Rays wasted several chances throughout the game. They left 12 men […]
Saturday, 4 a.m. It won’t be remembered for long, if at all. The good moments, and the bad, will be overtaken by more significant moments. On the other hand, there are two lessons to be taken away from the Bucs’ 24-16 victory in their preseason opener Friday night. One: winning is better than losing. Two: […]
Saturday, 3 a.m. Maybe the Tampa Bay Rays have fallen in love with room service. How else do you explain a team winning nine straight games on the road then tripping as soon as they return home? The Rays saw their winning streak end Friday night, as a late rally couldn’t overcome the Baltimore Orioles […]
Thursday, 4 a.m. Marco Polo had a good road trip. Dorothy had a good road trip. Lewis and Clark had a good road trip. The Tampa Bay Rays had a great road trip. For the first time, the Tampa Bay Rays have recorded a 9-0 road trip. They beat the Athletics again Wednesday, 8-4, for […]
Wednesday, 4 a.m. Don’t look now, Junior, but Taylor Walls is gaining on you. As of today, he’s only 33 home runs behind. Walls, the Rays’ slick fielding (and weak hitting) shortstop, hit two home runs in Tuesday night’s 12-4 victory over the Athletics. Walls, who hadn’t homered in more than a year, hit oen […]
Tuesday, 4 a.m. For much of the night, they didn’t pitch particularly well. Also, they didn’t hit. Even their fielding was a little splotchy. And then, just before they let a game slip away, the Rays turned into the best team in the American League again. Trailing by four runs, the Rays exploded for eight […]
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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.
