Wednesday, 4 a.m.
It had been a long time since the Tampa Bay Rays had tasted defeat.
It had been an eon since the Rays gave up nine runs. It had been an eternity since their fielding was this sloppy. It had been ages since they stranded so many men on base.
And, for the first time in nine games, the Rays lost. They fell to the Atlanta Braves, 9-5, giving up four runs in both the fifth and eighth innings. Yonny Chirinos gave up five runs (two earned) and Chaz Roe gave up three earned runs in the loss.
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In both of the Braves' four run innings, a misplay by first baseman Jake Bowers came back to haunt Tampa Bay. In the fifth, he charged a bunt by Julio Teheran hard and was unable to come up with the play. A run scored.
Then, in the eighth, he fielded a throw from Joey Wendle and looked to second base. But Adam Duvall broke late on third -- Bauers thought he had already scored -- and beat the tag by Michael Perez. Another run scored.
The Rays led 2-0 early but fell behind 5-2. The Rays rallied to tie, getting a two-run homer from Brandon Lowe and a game-tying single by Willy Adames. But after the Bauers' misplay, the Braves went on for a four-run inning.
"On the bunt play, we have to get an out," Cash said. "The other play was a pretty quirky play. It's hard to fault anyone. Their runners put themselves in no-man’s land and got out of it. "
In the end, it was probably Ender Inciarte's four-hit night, including a home run, that did in the Rays. But the fielding didn't help.
"It was a little sloppy on my part, but it happens," Bauers said. "Joey dove, and I
saw Ozzie Albies run toward third. I thought they were running on contact. In my head, I'm thinking the run's already scored. Then I heard Duffy yell 'four-four-four." I did my best to throw home and get him but he snuck in It was a weird play. They had their lines crossed. We had our lines crossed. They got a run out of it."
Cash pointed out how good the Rays' pitching has been as of late. "It's hard to fault anyone for tonight," he said.
The Rays, 70-62 on the season, play Atlanta again night at 7:35 p.m. Diego Castillo pitches against Sean Newcomb.
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