Saturday, 4 a.m.
They are falling, and they are picking up speed. They are flailing, and who knows how hard they will land?
The midsummer swoon of the Tampa Bay Rays continued Friday night in a 7-2 loss to the Cincinnati Reds. It was a similar loss to the ones that have come recently, a game in which the Rays didn’t pitch well and didn’t hit much.
Want to know what’s wrong with this team?
— Starting pitcher Zack Littell gave up two more home runs. That’s not much of a surprise. No one in the major leagues has given up more than Littell, who has given up 26 this year. (Ryan Pepiot is sixth in the league at allowing homers and Shane Baz is 10th).
— The Rays didn’t hit. They managed just six hits, and two doubles were their only extra base hits.
— They didn’t score. They left seven men on base and were just two-for-eight with runners in scoring position.
— They didn’t pitch. Littell gave up 10 hits and five runs in his six innings.
— They didn’t win. The Rays are 7-16 in their last 23 games, and just 6-13 in July. They have gone from 11 games over .500 to just two. They are now closer to the basement of the AL East then they are to the lead.
— The Rays did have a 2-1 lead early in the game. That made it 21 blown leads on the year for the Rays.
The Rays and Reds play again today at 6:40 p.m. Ryan Pepiot will start for the Rays against Andrew Abbott.