
Monday, 4 a.m.
For Alek Manoah, this is the way life used to be.
He was dominant. He was cheered. He was successful.
Yeah, in a lot of ways, it was 2022 all over again.
You remember Manoah, right? Back in ’22, he was one of baseball’s best pitchers. He was 16-9 with a 2.24 ERA. He was 24, and he was third in the Cy Young voting, and he seemed to have a firm grip on stardom.
Content beyond this point is for members only.
Already a member? To view the rest of this column, sign in using the handy "Sign In" button located in the upper right corner of the GarySheltonSports.com blog (it's at the far right of the navigation bar under Gary's photo). Not a member? It's easy to subscribe so you can view the rest of this column and all other premium content on GarySheltonSports.com.
Last season, however, he fell to 3-9, and he was 0-1 this year. He seemed lost, desperately chasing the way things used to be.
Then came Sunday, and once again, Manoah was a star.
Manoah dominated the Tampa Bay Rys on Sunday, throwing seven innings of one-hit, shutout baseball. The Rays finished with a. 5-2 loss, managing just four hits.
One of the hits was a ninth-inning home run by Isaac Paredes, his ninth of the season.
Daniel Vogelbach had three hits, including a home run, for the Jays.
It was the 10th homer allowed this season by Aaron Civale, who scuffled again. Civale has now started seven straight games without a win (since April 9). Civale gave up four earned runs in 5 1/3 innings.
The Rays struck out 10 times in the loss, which snapped a four-game winning streak.
The Rays return home to Tropicana Field tonight for a 6:50 p.m. game against the Boston Red Sox. Taj Bradley will start for the Rays against Tanner Houck.