Thursday, 4 a.m.
In a sprint to the finish, the last thing a team can afford is to stumble and fall.
The Rays lost to a Los Angeles Angels team that has apparently given up the ghost, 8-3. They didn’t pitch, they didn’t hit and they didn’t score. The Angels, who had lost six in a row, scored six times in the first two innings and coasted.
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Tampa Bay starter Aaron Civale gave up seven hits and six runs by the time he got six outs.
The Rays had just seven hits, but with the Angels errors and walks, they had plenty of baserunners. However, they were two-for-15 with runners in scoring position.
Manuel Margot had three hits for the Rays. Yandy Diaz drove in two of the Rays runs and Isaac Parades one.
The Rays had a chance to close in by a game on Baltimore, who lost to Houston earlier in the day.
Rays pitchers struck out 19 Angels, tied for the most in franchise history in a nine-inning gme.
The Rays and Angels play today at 1:10 p.m. at Tropicana Field. Zach Eflin will start for the Rays against Griffin Canning.