The Rays, still contending, are playing at home, where they've been successful. They're playing the Kansas City Royals, the last-place team of the AL Central Division. They're facing former teammate Michael Wacha, who had lost seven straight games. They held the Royals to four hits and retired the last 14 hitters they faced,.
And their own bats go to sleep.
The Rays struggled mightily against the Royals and Wacha Monday night, losing 2-1. It was another attempt by the Rays to get a streak going. Instead, they are 8-17 in their last 25 games.
It happens with the Rays on occasion. Take Tuesday night. The Rays were 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and struck out eight times.
The Rays had just six hits, two of them by Chandler Simpson. Yandy Diaz drove in the team's only run with a fifth-inning double.
The Rays and Royals play again tonight at 6:40 p.m. at Tropicana Field. Shane McClanahan (6-4) will start for the Rays against Luinder Avila (2-3).
DeLuca, making his return from the injured list, homered for the second time in three games. He launched a two-run shot in the bottom of the seventh inning, bringing the Rays from behind and leading the Rays to a 4-3 win over Washington at Tropicana Field.
DeLuca, who missed almost two months with a hamstring injury, led the Rays back from a 3-1 deficit.
The Rays again squandered opportunities. They were just one-for-six with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base. But the homer from DeLuca and another from Randy Vilade helped the Rays rally to capture the series.
DeLuca and Yandy Diaz each had two hits for the Rays.
Nick Martinez went six innings and allowed three runs. Grant Cleavinger got the win for the Rays. Kevin Kelly got the save.
The Rays are home tonight against Kansas City at 6;40 p.m. at Tropicana Field. Drew Rasmussen (6-3) will start for the Rays against Michael Wacha (4-5).
The Rays offense left repeated scoring chances go by the wayside in Saturday's 4-3 loss to the Washington National. In a one-run loss -- their seventh in their last eight one-run games -- it was toxic.
Consider:
-- The Rays had 10 hits and six walks in the game. But they left 11 runners on base, hit into two double plays and were thrown out going to second on an overthrow.
-- The Rays were just three-for-13 with runners in scoring position.
-- They loaded the bases in the first (only one run scored), loaded them in the second (no runs) and had three runners on in the third (one run).
The Rays ended up getting three hits from Junior Caminero and two from Yandy Diaz and Chander Simpson.
Caminero had a tough time, however, in the seventh. He reached on an infield single and turned when the ball was thrown wildly. He said later he was mistaken and thought the ball was thrown out of play. It wasn't, robbing the Rays of a situation with runners on second and third.
Ian Seymour took the loss for the Rays, going five innings but allowing three earned runs. Dylan Crews hit the game-clinching home run in the ninth.
The Rays are 1-1 in their 10-game homestand.
The Rays and Senators play again today at 1:40 p.m. at Tropicana. Nick Martinez (6-2) will start for the Rays against Andrew Alvarez (1-0).
Aranda's three-run homer led to the win./KIM HUKARI
Saturday, 4 a.m.
Maybe it was being home. More likely, it was the home runs.
The Tampa Bay Rays, comfortable at home after a terrible (1-5) road trip, came from behind to beat the Washington Nationals, 5-2, at Tropicana Field.
The Rays, who have won 25 games at home this year, relied on the long ball in the win. Jonathan Aranda had his 12th home run of the year, a three-run shot in the third inning after the Rays had fallen behind 2-0.
Later in the game, Jonny DeLuca homered in his return to the lineup. DeLuca had been out 22 games -- since May 22 -- with an injury.
DeLuca homered in his return./TIM WIRT
Tyler Walls drove in the fifth run with a single to center field.
Griffin Jax (2-5) got the win, going five innings and allowing two hits. Four relievers shut out the Nats on two hits.
The Rays and Nats play again today at 4:10 p.m. Ian Seymour (3-0) will start for the Rays against Cade Cavalli (4-4).
Thursday, 4 a.m. Wherever the cure for the sliding Tampa Bay Rays is, we can be sure it isn’t in Los Angeles. Yeah, the Rays lost again Wednesday afternoon. That isn’t new. The Rays fell for the fifth time in six games in L.A. The Rays, now 2 1/2 games behind the Yankees in the […]
Wednesday, 4 a.m. Maybe Drew Rasmussen should sue for non-support, Rasmussen, the pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays, was impressive once again Tuesday night. On the other hand, the Rays left their bats in hibernation. They were tamed by Dodgers pitcher Justin Wrobleski. The Rays managed just three hits in a 1-0 loss to the […]
Tuesday, 4 a.m. 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 […]
Monday, 4 a.m. 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 […]
Sunday, 4 a.m. 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 […]
Saturday, 4 a.m. 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 […]
Gary Shelton Sports is a subscription site. The following options are available:
• Buy a season ticket ($4 a month).
• Splurge on a club seat ($24 a year).
• Or go all in with a skybox ($54 for three years, which is only $1.50 a month).
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.
