Monday, 4 a.m.
They are a stone in water. Every day, they sink a little farther.
The Tampa Bay Rays lost again Sunday, and what else is new? They were swept by the lowly Orioles, a team you wouldn't exactly confuse with a contender, and their losing streak reached five games -- matching last season's longest funk.
It was the O's first sweep since August of 2018.
This time, in a 5-1 loss, it was close only for a finger snap. Brandon Lowe's
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sixth inning homer tied it at one, but the Rays didn't get another baserunner the rest of the game.
In their five-game swoon, the Rays averaged 2.6 runs per game, hit for a .185 average and committed six errors. Their bullpen had an ERA of 5.68.
Ask yourself this. Right now, when you consider the last five games, who are the Rays better than?
"We're not getting it done right now," said manager Kevin Cash. "We've got to find a way to get it done as a group, to start being a better version of ourselves.
"We just din’t get it done. We’re not getting it done right now. We’ve got to find a way to get it done as a group. We’re just not looking like it. The defense is key, but right now, you can point to any aspect of our game. We're not doing a good job of being ourselves, myself included.We've got to find a way to win games. It's frustrating."
The Rays have now trailed in nine of their 10 games this season.
Tampa Bay returns home to Tropicana Field on Tuesday night. The Rays will start Charlie Morton against Boston's Nathan Eovoldi, a former Ray.