Perhaps it is time for a bit of a reminder for the Tampa Bay Rays:
It's hard to play defense on the far side of the fence.
The Chicago White Sox reminded the Rays of that in Friday night's 6-1 win at Tropicana Field. The Sox hit four home runs in their win over the Rays.
Miguel Vargas, Anthony Benintendi, Munetaka Murakami and Colson Montgomery all homered for Chicago. Half of the White Sox eight hits were home runs. It was one of the roughest outings of the year for Nick Martinez (10-3).
Martinez had a tough night./KIM HUKARI
The Rays had just five hits. They've had five or fewer in three of their last four games.
The Rays scored just once, on Junior Caminero's 30th home run.
The Rays' lead in the AL East is now down to 2 1/2 games over the Yankees.
The Rays and White Sox will play again today at Tropicana Field at 4:10 p.m. Drew Rasmussen (9-5) will start for the Rays against Noah Schultz (3-7).
Some games are won by the bat. And, yes, you could make an argument for that after Cedric Mullins' winning home run in the bottom of the eighth Thursday afternoon.
Some games are won by the arm. And, sure, you could include this one, especially after Bryan Baker's 30th save of the season in a 3-2 victory over the Texas Rangers.
But, really, this game was won by the glove.
Right fielder Victor Mesa Jr. made a pair of highlight reel catches in the game, one of them going far to his left in the ninth inning.
Mullins hit winning homer./KIM HUKARI
The Rays ended up winning two of three in the series. They have now won eight of their last 10 games.
Yandy Diaz and Jonny DeLuca each had two hits. DeLuca had his seventh home run.
The Rangers managed just two hits, both in the fifth inning. They didn't get a hit of starter Shane McClanahan (who left in the fourth with back tightness). Casey Lugumina, Cam Booser, Craig Kimbrell, Steven Matz, Garrett Cleavinger and Baker all worked in relief for the Rays.
The Rays play the Chicago White Sox at 7:10 p.m. tonight at Tropicana Field. Nick Martinez will start for the Rays against Erick Fedde.
Welcome to ground zero. You know, where opposing offfenses go to die.
The Rays threw up another zero Wednesday night in a 3-0 victory over the Texas Rangers. It was the Rays' third shutout in four games and their ninth of the season.
The first four batters for the Rays scored three runs, and that's all it took. Off of MacKenzie Gorr, Yandy Diaz homered, Jonathan Aranda doubled and -- after an out -- Ryan Vilade homered.
The Rays didn't get another hit, but strong relief pitching bailed out Tampa Bay.
Vilade went deep early./KIM HUKARI
Reliever Bryan Baker starred again. He got his 29th save of the year.
Think about that. In his years in Tampa Bay, Pete Fairbanks never had that many. You'd have go back to Alex Colume's 47 in 2017 to find more by a Ray. The Rays and Rangers close out their series today at 12:10 p.m. at Tropicana Field. Shane McClanahan (9-6) will pitch for the Rays against Nathan Eovaldi (10-8).
Oh, if you keep up with the Tampa Bay Rays, you are where. Things will be going well, and them will approach a hot streak, and then zap. The offense goes into a coma.
It was that way again in Tuesday's 4-1 loss to the Texas Rangers at Tropicana Field. The Rays had jut four hits and scored only once in seeing their their hot streak (six wins in seven games) stopped.
This time, it was a .500 pitcher, Cal Quantrill, who atmpee the Rays. He struck out seven and gave up just two hits through 5 1/3 innings.
Griffin Jax gave up just one earned run in taking the loss (6-9). But he got little support. He struck out 10.
Junior Camerino had a double and a triple for the Rays and drove in their only run. The Rays loaded the bases with one out in the fourth, but Chandler Simpson hit into a double play to erase the threat.
The Rays and Rangers play again at 6:40 p.m. tonight at Tropinana Field. Ian Seymour (6-3) will start for the Rays against MacKenzie Gore (6-8).
Monday, 4 a.m. For a few hours, it was easy to wonder who could be better than Nick Martinez was on Saturday for the Tampa Bay Rays. Turns out, Drew Rasmussen, that’s who. Rasmussen was amazing on Sunday, shutting down the Cleveland Guardians for seven innings in a 1-0 victory. Rasmussen allowed only a leadoff […]
Saturday, 4 a.m. If you ran the Tampa Bay Rays, and you really needed to win a game, you’d probably start with Nick Martinez. A bit later, you’d finish up with Bryan Baker. Martinez and Baker, two all-star pitchers for the Rays, both were excellent in a 3-0 win over Cleveland Friday night at Tropicana […]
Saturday, 4 a.m. Sometimes, it’s good to come home. After a roller-coaster of a road trip — with four straight losses and three straight wins — the Rays returned to Tropicana Field and trounced the Cleveland Guardians 11-3 on Friday night.\ The Rays lead the major leagues with 35 home wins this year. The Rays […]
Friday, 4 a.m. Just that quickly, the reborn offense of the Tampa Bay Rays has gone missing. Two nights after getting 21 hits in a game, and following three games where the team had 42, the Rays were held to just three hits in a 3-1 loss to Toronto. Shane Bieber, who has struggled this […]
Thursday, 4 a.m. Turns out, the Rays are something to see when they’re playing in a different country. Tampa Bay beat Toronto for the third straight game on Wednesday, beating the Blue Jays 4-2 at the Rogers Centre. Considering the way the Boston Red Sox handled the Rays last week, the winning streak is welcome. […]
Wednesday, 4 a.m. The memories of a lost week are still fresh in the minds of the Tampa Bay Rays. From the looks of it, however, the bats of the Rays have awakened again. The Rays rained 21 hits in Tuesday night’s 12-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays. It was the team’s second straight […]
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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.
