Wednesday, 4 a.m.
Considering the offensive explosion of the previous night, it might have been understandable if the Tampa Bay Rays had a little bit of a falloff.
You wouldn’t have expected them to fall off a cliff.
Over 24 hours, the Rays lost 15 hits. They scored 10 fewer runs. They lost 7-0, the fifth time they’ve been shut out this season.
They didn’t hit. They didn’t field. In the end, they didn’t come close.
It was a sudden, deadly drop for the Rays, who had won 10-2 the night before with a season-high 18 hits. On Tuesday night, they managed only singles from Brandon Lowe, Isaac Paredes and Luke Raley. The Rays struck out 14 times in a bullpen night for the Giants.
The hard thing to understand is that starter Zack Littell was pretty good. He shut the Giants out on one hit for five innings. In the sixth, however, he gave up a home run to No. 9 hitter Thairo Estrada. A single by Wade Meckler chased Littell from the game, and the next hitter, Wilmer Flores, homered off reliever Kevin Kelly.
The Giants loaded the bases with no one out in the seventh, but Kelly almost worked his way out of it with a strikeout and groundout. Catcher Rene Pinto, trying to pick the runner off third, had an error on a high throw and two more runs scored.
It can happen that way. On April 9, the Rays scored 11 runs for the second straight night, but the next day scored just one. On April 27, the Rays scored 14. The next day, they scored three. On May 28, the Rays scored 11 against the Dodgers. The next day, they were shut out.
The Rays try to win the series today at 3:45 p.m. at Oracle Park. Aaron Civale will start for the Rays. The Giants have not announced a pitcher.