Sunday, 4 a.m.
They have seen this before. It beat them then, too.
The Tampa Bay Rays ran into familiar struggles in Saturday’s 5-4 loss to the Atlanta Braves. You might say that the loss had a bit of deja vu to it.
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— Once again, the Rays’ pitching couldn’t keep the ball inside of Steinbrenner Field. This time, the Rays gave up four home runs. For the season, they’ve given up 24, the second-most in major league baseball (the Brewers have given up one more).
— Like clockwork, the Rays continue to leave success on the bases. They left 10 men on Saturday, and they were two-for-10 with runners in scoring position. They loaded the bases with one out in the third and no one out in the sixth.
— The bullpen still isn’t settled. Starter Drew Rasmussen didn’t give up a run in his five innings, but in four innings, the bullpen gave up seven hits and all five runs. Cole Susler gave up two runs to take the loss.
The Rays led 2-0 for much of the game, but the Braves rallied to score five runs from the seventh inning on. Home runs — two by Sean Murphy — led the attack.
The Rays came within one run on Jonathan Aranda’s homer in the ninth, but could come no closer.
Aranda and Jose Caballero each had three hits for the Rays. Caballero, however, was picked off of first, caught stealing second and caught stealing third.
Yandy Diaz had two hits for the Rays.
The Rays and Braves conclude their series today at 1:40 p.m. at Steinbrenner Field. Shane Baz will start for the Rays against Chris Sale.