Rays sloppy in loss to Baltimore

by Gary Shelton on May 21, 2022

in general

Saturday, 4 a.m.

Down deep, we all knew that someday, the Baltimore Orioles would beat the Tampa Bay Rays again.

No one knew, however, how ugly a game it would take.

The Rays blew three different leads in Friday night's 8-6, 13-inning loss to the Orioles Friday night, a game that ended with a two-run homer by Rougned Odor. The Orioles, as usual, are in the AFC East basement (their sixth year of seven in fifth place).





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It was a game filled with lowlights for the Rays, including:

-- Wander Franco being out at home with the potential go-ahead run when he decided not to slide in the 13th.

-- Randy Arozarena dropped a fly ball and was out trying to stretch a single into a double.

-- Matt Wisler blew a two-run lead in the 10th.

-- Ralph Garza Jr. gave up the winning home run on the third pitch he threw.

-- The Rays pitchers -- nine of them -- walked four batters, struck out 11 times and hit a batter.

"I think we did a lot of good things," said Rays' manager Kevin Cash. "Unfortunately , we countered that with some things that weren’t ideal to put us in position to win. We had opportunities. We capitalized on some of them and some of them we didn’t. The longer that lengthens out, the future you put yourself behind. Ultimately, they came up and had a big hit."

True, the Rays had their moments. Mike Zunino hit a three-run homer to put the Rays up 3-0. Arozarena got four hits. Kevin Kiermaier got three, two in extra innings. Brett Phillips threw a runner out at the plate.

Still, the Rays were unable to put the Orioles away for once. They had beaten Baltimore 15 straight times coming into the game.

Cash was asked about Franco's decision not to slide, although most baseball players slide into home.

"It looked like he got a good jump, good read," Cash said. "But sometimes, there’s an argument that your're going to be a little quicker coming through the plate like he did. Unfortunately, (Anthony) Bemboom got the glove on him."

Cash addressed Wisler, who gave up two walks and a hit to allow Baltimore to tie the game. He did work his way out of the inning, but the game continued.

“Wisler’s been on a real good run for us," Cash said. "Tonight, it was a struggle for him. It looked like he  couldn’t find the breaking ball where he wanted in the zone. That’s going to happen at times. Our bullpen has been very good. We just came up short."

The Rays play the Orioles again tonight at 7:10 p.m. at Camden Yards. Jeffrey Springs will start for Tampa Bay against Kyle Bradish.



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