Thursday, 4 a.m.
No, the collapse is not yet complete.
One day after a rare win, the Tampa Bay Rays were back to their ineptitude on Wednesday afternoon. They lost to the also-slumping Florida Marlins, 7-1, and fell to 5-15 in July.
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It was a lopsided game, with the Rays neither pitching nor hitting well. Starter Zach Eflin, so good in his previous start, gave up five runs in his first four innings before he left with a bad knee. And the team got just five hits -- three in the first eight innings,
Remember, this was against the Marlins, who had lost nine of their previous 10, and against Sandy Alcantara, who entered with a 3-9 record. But the Rays never challenged. Their only run came after a bloop double by Josh Lowe and a single by Jose Siri in the third inning.
Other than that, the Rays continued to struggle. Consider stars Randy Arozarena and Wander Franco. Both went 0-4. Arozarena is now hitting .171 for July and Franco is hitting .162.
The Rays are off today, but travel for a Friday night game against Houston at 8:10 p.m. Shane McClanahan will start on Friday night against Cristian Javier.