Friday, 4 a.m.
There is a problem with the Tampa Bay Rays being on top of the AL East.
The way they’re playing, they’re going to fall on someone.
The Rays took it on the nose again Thursday night, losing a 3-1, 11-inning game to the Philadelphia Phillies. It completed a sweep of the Rays, the suddenly hitless wonders, and stretched the team’s losing record to five in a row.
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The Rays are now just 17-15 since the start of June.
It was a struggle for the Rays, who were dominated by the Philly pitching staff. The Rays got just 17 hits in their 100 at-bats in the series, a .170 average. With runners in scoring position, the Rays were just three-of-23, a .130 average. They were 0-9 on Thursday.
The only Rays’ run came in the fifth inning on Isaac Paredes’ home run.
The Rays had a solid chance to win the game in the 10th inning after getting the Phillies out in the top of the inning. But with the winning run on second (as a ghost-runner), Manny Margot and Jose Siri both struck out and Christian Bethancourt grounded out.
The Rays wasted their second strong pitching performance of the series, piecing together an eight-pitcher assault that held Philadelphia in check for most of the night. The eighth pitcher, Ryan Thompson, was victimized in the 11th inning, hitting a batter and giving up two RBI singles to take the loss.
The Rays now have the Atlanta Braves coming to Tropicana Field. Tyler Glasnow will start tonight’s 6:40 p.m. game against ex-teammate Charlie Morton.