Sunday, 4 a.m.
By now, you are tired of the story. Certainly, you have heard it enough.
The Rays are in a tight game, but they can't come with a big hit. They leave men stranded on second and third, time and again. Eventually, their pitching makes a mistake, and it costs them the game.
It has happened time and again this season, most recently in Saturday's 4-2 loss to Cleveland. The Rays simply don't hit enough, and they especially don't hit when they are on the verge of scoring.
Content beyond this point is for members only.
Already a member? To view the rest of this column, sign in using the handy "Sign In" button located in the upper right corner of the GarySheltonSports.com blog (it's at the far right of the navigation bar under Gary's photo). Not a member? It's easy to subscribe so you can view the rest of this column and all other premium content on GarySheltonSports.com.
In their last eight games, they are eight-for-72 with runners at second or third. They’ve left a total of 55 men on base.
No wonder the Rays, once again, are on the wrong side of .500. They’re 47-48.
The Rays were in a 2-2 tie in the seventh inning after Zack Littell went six innings and gave up just two runs. The Rays scored when Yandy Diaz doubled in Richie Palacios from first in the third.
Cleveland came back with two in the fifth on a homer by Angel Martinez and a single by Andres Giminez. But the Rays came back to tie the game at 2 when Jonny DeLuca’s grounder was misplayed, allowing Palacios to score from third (he had tripled).
The game was decided in the eighth when pitch-hitter Jhonkensy Noel homered off of reliever Garrett Cleavinger, who took his second loss in seven decisions.
The Rays managed three hits in their final two at-bats, but couldn’t score.
For the game, Isaac Paredes and Jose Caballero each had two hits for Tampa Bay.
The teams play again today at 1:40 p.m. at Tropicana Field. Ryan Pepiot will start for the Rays against Ben Lively.