Monday, 4 a.m.
In the largely forgettable history of the Tampa Bay Rays, there have been a lot of bleak days.
Rarely, however, has there been a day as dark as Saturday.
The Rays, stumbling again, were clobbered by the last-place Cincinnati Reds, 10-5, giving up seven runs in the third inning alone. It means a sweep for the Reds over the hobbling Rays, who entered the day by placing Wander Franco, Kevin Kiermaier and Jeffrey Springs on an already-crowded injury list.
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The Rays, now third in the AL East race, are just 2 1/2 games out of the cellar.
“The injuries are the roughest thing," Rays’ manager Kevin Cash said. "They always are. But you've got to overcome them. When you're missing five everyday players, you're going to see the effects of it. But it's an opportunity for the younger players."
Still, the impact was felt by an already light-hitting Rays' team, which entered the game with five batters hitting less than .200, including No. 3 hitter Taylor Walls, who struck out four times Sunday. Still, the Rays had 12 hits and scored five times.
It wasn't enough, however. Starter Shane Baz got only seven outs against the Reds, but gave up seven earned runs and three homers in the third inning.
"They just made a good adjustment on him," Cash said. "It wasn't strike-throwing, it was just that they got pitches they could hit and did a lot of damage in a short amount of time.
"We didn’t help him. We put him in a little bit of a bind with the triple that should have been a single, then an errant threw at third base, but ultimately tip your cap to the Reds. They barreled up a lot of balls the inning."
Oh, the Rays also have typical Rays errors. Walls singled to right, but was out when the ball was thrown behind him.
"It just can’t happen." Cash said. "It’s got to stop. It’s not Wallsy, collectively, its all of us. We’ve got to do a better job on the bases."
Rene Pinto threw the ball to third just over the runner's head, evading Yandy Diaz and leading to a run.
The Rays are now 9-10 this season against last-place teams. Last year they were 26-``11.
Tampa Bay now returns home to Tropicana Field to start a series with the Boston Red Sox tonight at 7:10 p.m. The Rays have not announced their starter, but the Sox will go with Brayan Bello.