Rays limp into Baltimore as the road trip continues.
The American League is a wide open race, nearly top to bottom. The Rays began a three-game, interleague road series in Pittsburgh on Tuesday night sitting 2.5 games out of first in the East. They were also in a virtual tie for the second wild card spot. Friday morning presented a bit different scenario after dropping two of three to a Pirates team probably out of the race in the NL.
Tuesday: Rays 4 Pirates 2
The road trip began pretty well for the Rays. Sort of. A win is a win, of course. Alex Cobb pitched a no-hitter into the seventh inning with a slim 2-0 lead. Enter Alex Colome to close it out. Andrew McCutchen would play the hero for Pittsburgh with a game-tying, two-run double off the Rays All Star closer to take us to extras. It would take an error by David Freese and some clutch hitting by Steven Souza Jr to get the Rays the win in 10 innings and take game one in the “Steel City.”
Are the Rays finally seeing the Cobb of old? Looks that way.
Cobb’s eight shutout frames lower his ERA to 1.63 in his last four starts.#RaysWin! pic.twitter.com/Ky4mxJpi8z
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) June 28, 2017
Wednesday: Pirates 6 Rays 2
Blake Snell made his first start since May 13th after being recalled from Durham and unfortunately for the Rays, his control issues continued to be an issue. Snell would fall to 0-5 on the year after going just five innings and walking five Pirates. He also gave up all six of the Pittsburgh runs including the 15th homer of the season for Josh Bell. The good news? The bullpen trio of Danny Farquhar, Jumbo Diaz, and Erasmo Ramirez pitched a scoreless three innings in relief.
Adeiny Hechavarria would continue to swing a hot bat as a Ray collecting two more hits and going 2-for-3 with a walk in the loss.
Locked in. ???? pic.twitter.com/ntS0ipwsde
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) June 28, 2017
Thursday: Pirates 4 Rays 0
To try and take the series, the Rays sent Chris Archer to the hill looking for his seventh win of the year. Despite giving up two solo home runs, Archer pitched a solid six innings for another quality start to his resume. The offense, however, had no answers for Pirates starter, Jameson Taillon, or the Pittsburgh bullpen. In total, the Rays left 10 men on base and had multiple scoring chances throughout.
A bright spot in the loss was the debut of 28-year old rookie reliever, Adam Kolarek. The righty would pitch an inning and a third giving up just a hit in his MLB debut.
NEXT UP:
- The Rays (41-40) head to Baltimore to face the Orioles (39-39) with third place in the East on the line. Just a half game separates the two clubs as of Friday morning.
