Sunday, 4 a.m.
For six games, they showed you why they might survive this scramble for a wild-card berth.
The last two nights, the Tampa Bay Rays have showed you why they might not.
For the second straight day, the Rays were manhandled for the by the last-place Boston Red Sox, a team that appeared to be in mid-swoon before the Rays came to town. The Red Sox won 5-1, with Boston scoring four of their runs in their first at-bat.
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After that, the game belonged to 42-year-old old Rich Hill, who allowed just three hits in seven innings and struck out 11. The Rays traded Hill away for very little last season, and it came back to haunt them.
"We saw him do it last year for us," said Rays' manager Kevin Cash. "He can really get creative on the mound. Different deliveries, it seems every third pitch. He had more cutter usage today, but we know he’s going to go out there and compete. He competed really well.
"When he’s on, he’s really tough to time up."
The Red Sox got five of their eight hits in the first inning, jumping all over Springs, who had been on a good run. After the first, the Sox had only one run on three hits, but the Rays never threatened. Their only run came on an RBI single by Randy Arozarena in the eighth.
The Rays are in a virtual three-way tie with Toronto and Seattle in the wild-card race.
The Rays try again against the Red Sox today at 1:35 p.m. at Fenway Park. Corey Kluber will pitch for the Rays against Nick Pivetta.