Thursday, 4 a.m.
Remember that awful, miserable slump that the Tampa Bay Rays went through just before the All-Star break.
Bad news.
It isn’t over yet.
The Rays lost again to the Chicago White Sox, the worst team in the American League, on Thursday night. It was 11-9, and it was as ugly as it sounds. The Rays have now lost 15 of their last 22 games, and now they head out on a challenging road trip.
Where to start with this loss? The Rays had two of their worst pitching performances of the season. They blew leads of 4-0 and 6-4. They were four-for-16 with runners in scoring position, and only two-for-14 after the first inning.
They had a run negated by review. They overthrew home as a White Sox run scored. They were out after turning the wrong way as they passed first base.
They had 15 hits, two walks, two hits batsmen and reached on an error. But they left 10 men on base. With the loss, the Rays are now 23-23 against teams with sub-.500 records.
It started with Taj Bradley, who lasted only five outs. He had a 4-0 lead, but couldn’t get out of the second inning. He gave up four to start the inning, including a three-run homer by Colson Montgomery. After the game, the Rays optioned Bradley to Durham.
Another pitcher who struggled was Kevin Kelley, who could get only one out as he gave up five runs in the eighth. He gave up four hits and two walks.
The Rays did manage a big night hitting, starting with two-run homers by Yandy Diaz and Junior Caminero in the first.
Chandler Simpson had three hits on the night. Jonathan Aranda, Caminero, Josh Lowe, Jake Mangum and Jose Caballero all had two hits.
The Rays are off today, but play at Cincinnati on Friday at 7:10 p.m. Zack Littell will start against Nick Martinez.