Thursday, 3 a.m.
Good news from Tropicana Field. (And bad news, too).
The Rays won another game. (And might have lost another pitcher).
Tyler Glasnow was at his most dominant. (And Jalen Beeks left the field in pain).
The team has now won 20 games. (And Beeks would be the team's 10th pitcher on the injured list).
A little more gain. A little more pain.
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And so it goes. The more you want to feel good about the Rays' stature as being the American League East leader, the easier it is to wonder if the team can stay that way with the M*A*S*H* unit that is the pitching staff. That's the way it has gone for this team. For every two steps forward, there is a step backward.
The Rays beat Baltimore 4-2 Monday, and the heartening thing was just how sharp that Glasnow was. He struck out 13 batters in seven innings to earn his first victory of the year.
But, as he was close to earning a save, Beeks felt something wrong in his arm and had to be pulled from the game.
"It’s unfortunate," said Rays' manager Kevin Cash. "There was no explanation either. They’re all coming in bunches, every night and every other night. We have to wait and see what they see."
Glasnow struck out nine of the last 10 batters he faced.He said he felt better as the game went along.
"He was outstanding," Cash said. "He gave up the home run in the first and really put it in gear. He had outstanding stuff. He’s a really a special pitcher when he has the fastball and the curveball going where he wants them. I don’t know if you see too many pitchers in the game who can create that type of chase on the breaking ball. Some of them are 55 footers. but you can’t blame the hitters. It all comes out the same and it has so much bite to it as its coming in."
The Rays got most of their offense early. In the second inning, Hunter Renfroe and Manuel Margot hit back-to-back homers to give the Rays a lead they would never lose.
The Rays play the Orioles again tonight at 6:40 p.m. Tampa Bay will start Trevor Richards against Asher Wojciechowski.