Saturday, 4 a.m.
It gets uglier. It gets weaker.
The Tampa Bay Rays are sinking like a stone. They lost again Friday afternoon, falling 6-4 to the Chicago Cubs, to fall back to three games under .500. They've lost six of their last seven.
They don’t hit. They can’t hold a lead. They can’t focus while running the bases.
It was a defeat that felt worse, perhaps because the Rays' jumped to a 3-0 lead on a home run by Christopher Morel. The Rays, however, managed just two hits the rest of the way. They didn't have a hit after the fourth.
Rays' starter Shane Baz lasted only 2 1/3 innings and gave up five runs and six hits. The Rays' bullpen gave up only one more run -- a homer by Ian Happ -- but the damage was done.
At one point, the Rays had come within two games of the last AL wild card spot. Now, they're seven games back.
The Rays and Cubs play again today at Wrigley Field at 2:20 p.m. Drew Rasmussen will pitch against Colin Rea.