Monday, 4 a.m.
It’s June 10. Do you know where your Tampa Bay Rays are?
Besides last place, that is.
Of course the Rays are in last place. With the way they’re playing, where else would they be?
In embarrassing fashion, the Rays claimed the cellar spot with a 9-2 drubbing at the hands of the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday. The Rays lost their fifth game of six against Baltimore despite trailing only 3-2 in the sixth inning.
So what’s not a last-place performance for the Rays?
— Hitting? The Rays struggled again, with Baltimore’s Grayson Rodriguez throwing a perfect game through five innings. The Rays were two-for-four with runners in scoring position and struck out 11 times.
— The bullpen? The Rays gave up six runs from their pen. In particular, Phil Maton has struggled. In his last two appearances, he’s given up seven earned runs in 1 1/3 innings.
The Rays don’t keep the ball in the park. They don’t hit with runners in scoring position. They don’t slow down the other team’s stars (Adley Rutschman had six RBI, including a grand slam in the eighth inning).
It has been enough for the Rays to sink to the last place in the AL East, falling a game behind Toronto. Baltimore, on the other hand, is 42-22 on the season.
The Rays gave up two more home runs (and three triples) to the O’s.
Yandy Diaz and Randy Arozarena each had two hits for the Rays. However, the rest of the lineup only had two, as well.
The Rays close out their series against the O’s tonight at 6:50 p.m. Ryan Pepiot will start for the Rays against Corbin Burnes.
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