Cold bats. Defensive miscues. Tampa Bay’s skid continues as the Rays have their worst week so far this season, as Boston and Cleveland visited Tropicana Field.
August has not started out the way anyone could have projected. Sure, the first three days of the month saw wins against the American League leading Astros on their home turf in Houston. But since they came home on the 4th, things have gone completely awry for Tampa Bay.
The month started out with a 4-2 week; not too shabby. But the falter started when the Rays dropped 2-of-3 to Milwaukee at the Trop. Although starting pitching was pretty decent, the lack of offensive support resulted in two losses coming in shut out fashion.
A trend that, unfortunately, continued this week.
Boston
After their first day off since July 20th, the Rays played host to Boston for just the second time this season. The Red Sox were in the middle of what turned into an eight game winning streak by the end of the series, holding onto their lead in the A.L. East.
Rays Up-
Although he took the loss, Austin Pruitt held Red Sox batters to just one run in Tuesday’s game. Over six innings, Pruitt struck out five while allowing seven hits to one of baseball’s best starting line-ups.
Nice work, @aus13tin. ????
He held Boston to one run over six innings. pic.twitter.com/QQSLVnf93G
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) August 9, 2017
Brad Boxberger and Steve Cishek combined for two perfect innings on Wednesday, each striking out a Boston batter and preventing the Red Sox from adding onto their lead.
Rays Down-
Once again, Chris Sale (14-4) proved to be too much for Tampa Bay batters. In eight innings, Sale allowed just two hits and a walk, while on the way to 13 strikeouts. In four starts against the Rays this season, he is 3-1, while allowing just eight runs on 14 hits, with an astounding 49 strikeouts. This partially explains why he is in conversations for not only the Cy Young, but the American League MVP award.
13 Ks in 13 seconds, a beautiful thing. pic.twitter.com/XvJqOt6w3J
— Red Sox (@RedSox) August 9, 2017
Jake Odorizzi returned from the disabled list and was activated for Wednesday’s game. Although he allowed just two runs (one earned) on four hits, he left early after taking a line drive to his ankle.
Jake Odorizzi was activated from the DL tonight then this happens .. (MLBMemes) pic.twitter.com/rISGMtjMmq
— The Sports Talk (@_TheSportsTalk) August 10, 2017
The good news is that Odorizzi threw a bullpen session the following day and looked just fine.
Wednesday, Boston scored five unearned runs against the Rays. Three off of wild pitches, and two off of Tampa Bay errors.
Including the three games against the Brewers and two against Boston, starting pitchers allowed a total of five earned runs. But, over that same span, the Rays managed just four runs of their own, as they were shut out three times in five games.
The Takeaway-
There are still plenty of games left against the Boston Red Sox and the rest of the A.L. East, but if they want to contend for the postseason, the Rays need to put numbers on the board to back up their starters.
Cleveland
After dropping two to Boston, the Rays needed to shake the dust off and regroup as the defending American League Champions came into town for a four-game set.
Rays Up-
Thursday, Corey Dickerson ended a 21 at-bat hitless streak with a bang, in the form of a three-run home run.
Here’s @davewills34 on the call for Corey’s clutch homer! ???? pic.twitter.com/iTGzktvj1d
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) August 11, 2017
Logan Morrison ended both a personal drought, and a team drought earlier Thursday. Riding a 0-for-11 at-bat streak, the Rays were also in the midst of a 0-for-31 streak with RISP. Morrison ended both with one swing as he drove in Lucas Duda.
Blake Snell, still seeking his first win of 2017, pitched what is probably his most impressive start this year on Thursday. Over 6.1 innings, Snell allowed just one run on four hits and two walks. But lack of offense early caused him to ge the no decision.
.@snellzilla11 took his strong start into the seventh last night. pic.twitter.com/90uL0zvNI9
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) August 11, 2017
Alex Colome picked up his 34th save on Thursday, pitching a perfect ninth inning with just 11 pitches. The save extends Colome’s league lead in saves.
Chris Archer tossed eight strikeouts Saturday. While that number isn’t impressive compared to some of his other games, it is significant because he is now just three shy of 200 on the season. He owns the franchise record (252, 2015) and is on pace to potentially break it before season’s end.
Rays Down-
Archer (8-7) faced the Indians for the sixth time in his career Saturday. And for the sixth time, he suffered the loss (0-6, 6.00 ERA). If you were watching the game live or on TV, it was apparent that Archer was getting frustrated at both himself, and his defense.
The Rays were shut out twice in the four games. Meaning, that going back to last Friday, the Rays have been shut out in 5-of-9 games, giving them 10 shut out losses this season. That means, between games 1-110, they were shut out as many times as they were between games 111-119.
The Takeaway?
Tampa Bay could not put all the pieces together at one time. Either pitching was on point, fielding was shut down, or the bats were hot. But never more than one of those at a time. To win, the Rays need all three components to flow together simultaneously.
The Rays finished the home stand 2-7, and the loss on Sunday took the Rays to 59-60 on the year. It is the first time they have dropped below .500 since June 7th.
Us leaving this homestand. pic.twitter.com/azGlrsK5x5
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) August 13, 2017
Due Up
Tampa Bay travels into the great white north for a four-game set against Toronto. Then, they return home for six more games: three against Seattle, followed by three more against the Blue Jays. The last time the Rays faced Seattle, the Mariners swept Tampa Bay. Hopefully, things are different inside the climate controlled Tropicana Field.
