Saturday, 4 a.m.
After almost two years in limbo, Shane Baz returned to major league baseball Friday night.
For the night to have truly been a success, however, Baz would have had to hold the Texas Rangers to negative runs.
The almost-hitless Rays lost their offense again in a 3-0 loss to the Texas Rangers. Baz gave up all three runs — and five of the seven hits he surrendered — in the third inning. Except for that, he was impressive, but as the saying goes, you can’t win if you don’t score.
The Rays managed just three hits.
Oh, the Rays had their chances. The Rangers walked eight Rays — and gave up a baserunner on a wild pitch as Jose Siri struck out.
For the night, the Rays:
— Left 11 men on base.
— Were 0-10 with runners in scoring position.
— Ended five different innings — all with runners on base — with a strikeout. The Rays struck out 10 times overall.
Despite that, the Rays managed just one double by Brandon Lowe and singles by Josh Lowe and Randy Arozarena,
Baz was good until the third. He gave up a single, then got two outs. But the Rangers followed with four straight hits.
Rangers’ starter Michael Lorenzen went five innings and held the Rays to one hit.
The teams play again today in Texas at 4:10 p.m. Taj Bradley will start for the Rays against Andrew Heaney.