Monday, 3 a.m.
The first job of a starting pitcher isn't the amount of hits he allows or the number of strikeouts he gets. It isn't how long he goes or how many zeroes he hangs on the scoreboard.
The first job of a starting pitcher is simple: Give your team a chance to win.
Lately, that hasn't happened for the Tampa Bay Rays.
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The Rays, a team built on its pitching, was ambushed for the second straight day by the New York Yankees, a team that seems to have finally fought off the doldrums to regrasp control of the AL East.
The Yankees jumped on the Rays for 10 runs in the first two innings, then coasted to a 10-4 victory. In the last two days, the Yankees have scored 20 runs and collected 23 hits. Once again, it was over by the time you realized they had started to play.
On Saturday, the Yankees hammered Corey Kluber with five earned runs and eight hits while Kluber managed only two outs.
On Sunday, it was worse. They assailed Luis Patino with nine earned runs, five hits, four walks and three homers.
"Walks certainly played a role in it," Rays' manager Kevin Cash said. "He just didn’t have very good stuff. They were kind of all over everything he was throwing. It snowballed pretty quick on him."
The Rays actually had more hits than the Yankees (10-8), but four of the Yankees hits were home runs.
The Rays are now 5 1/2 games back again.
The Rays now move to Toronto for four games. Neither team has announced a starting pitcher for Monday night.