In his return, Blake Snell looked pretty much like he did before leaving./JEFFREY S. KING
Thursday, 2 a.m.
The new and improved Blake Snell you have heard so much about was, upon his most recent sightning, more like old and familiar.
Snell gave up four first-inning runs and went on to lose a 6-2 decision to the Pittsburgh Pirates Wednesday night. Snell, now 0-5 on the season, walked five batters and gave up four hits.
The Rays came back to within 4-2, but Josh Bell homered and Jose Osuna doubled in a run for the Pirates.
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Longoria had two doubles to extend his hitting streak./TRAVIS PENDERGRASS
“Probably not the start we were hopeful of for Blake,” said Rays' manager Kevin Cash. “We saw a young pitcher who was really excited to get back to the big leagues. He was probably overamped.
“In five pitches, he had two outs. It's unfortunate. I did think there was improvement. His ve-lo (velocity) was higher. We would all agree that the breaking balls were sharper. A handful of them were located better and a handful weren't.”
Dickerson continues to swing a hot bat./CARMEN MANDATO
Snell, who had drawn raves for his work in AAA, still has to show that he can win in the big leagues. He got off to a quick start, retiring the first two batters, but he followed with three walks, a double, a single and a wild pitch.
“I felt there was improvement,” Cash said. “I hope Blake felt there was improvement. But there needs to be a lot more improvement.”
The Rays hit the ball decently, getting two hits from Corey Dickerson, Evan Longoria (two doubles), Tim Beckham and Adeiny Hechavarria. But the Rays couldn't score nearly enough. They hung up zeros in their last six innings of offense, and they went two-for-13 with runners in scoring position.
Following the game, the Rays' designated Danny Farquhar for assignment to make room for Brad Boxberger.
Tonight, Chris Archer goes for his third straight win against Pittsburgh's Jameson Taillon.
Beckham seems to have made the move to second without a problem./STEVE MUNCIE
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