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MIAMI — All that momentum and good vibes the Rays left Toronto with didn’t have to end like this.
Friday’s 9-4 loss was as much a product of what the Rays did wrong as the Marlins did right.
Like the seven batters walked by Tampa Bay starter Taj Bradley and the bullpen, four of whom scored. (Plus they gave up 13 hits.)
“Just falling behind and not being able to reset the count,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “That is very uncharacteristic. We do such a good job usually of being in the zone and staying in the zone. Giving up hits is one thing. But free passes ultimately, really, was the outcome of the game.”
And some sloppy work in the field, including a couple of missed plays that could have limited the opportunities — or even ended the pivotal fourth inning — before the Marlins went on to score four runs.
“We always put the work in. And we’ve been known for being a good defensive team,” shortstop Jose Caballero said. “In those situations, I feel like sometimes it just doesn’t go our way.”
Bradley had a bad and abbreviated outing, pulled after a 36-pitch fourth inning in which he walked three (for the first time in an inning in his career) and wasn’t able to make the play on what could have been a double play. Junior Caminero then threw wide of first after fielding a grounder.
“Walks didn’t help him, deep pitch counts, we didn’t make plays behind him that we need to make for him,” Cash said. “That one inning unraveled. (Caminero) needs to make that play and Taj needs to overcome it. We just didn’t.
“And we let a team create a little traction and they ran with it and scored a bunch of runs.”
For the night, Bradley allowed five runs, six hits, three walks and a hit batter, striking out six, throwing 82 pitches (51 strikes) to get the 12 outs. That ended his streak of working at least five innings in 10 straight starts.
He took the blame.
“I just didn’t attack the zone at all,” Bradley said. “Threw too many off-speeds for balls that were taken out of (my) hand and just didn’t make better pitches.”
The score was 1-1 when the bottom of the fourth started, but that changed quickly.
Bradley started by walking former Rays minor-leaguer Ronny Simon. The Rays had a chance for a double play when Graham Pauley grounded to first. Jonathan Aranda threw to second for the lead out, but Caballero’s return throw bounced out of Bradley’s glove.
Cash said he thought Pauley was safe. Bradley said he couldn’t tell but knew “I just didn’t have a good footing on the bag.” Caballero thought they had it.
“We did everything right in the double play that you mentioned, and the ball just dropped,” Caballero said. “It’s nobody’s fault. It’s just the ball just dropped. He was there, I threw the ball, and we couldn’t make that out.”
That was magnified when Caminero came in for Derek Hill’s grounder but his throw pulled Aranda off the base.
“We have to make that play,” Cash said. “That’s an error (on Caminero).”
Caminero didn’t want to say much when asked about the play.
“He’s asking you if you think that he wants to commit errors and just have a bad throw, yes or no,” team interpreter Eddie Rodriguez said.
Told the reporter just wanted to know what happened on the play, Caminero said, “That’s something that happens in the game. I don’t want to commit errors.”
Bradley got a flyball out that advanced the runners, walked Jesus Sanchez (another former Rays minor-leaguer) to load the bases, and walked Agustin Ramirez to force in a run. Worse, he then gave up a double over Simpson’s head in leftfield that cleared the bases.
“Usually we attack the zone with all pitches,” Bradley said. “Just to get into that bases-loaded jam, I was just nitpicking around the zone trying to create soft contact when I should have just been attacking.”
The Rays rallied, cutting the 5-1 lead to 5-4 in the fifth, getting hits from Kameron Misner, Caballero, Chander Simpson (who had three for the night) and Josh Lowe.
But then the bullpen let the game get away again in the sixth, rookie Mason Montgomery and recent callup Connor Seabold combining to give up four more runs as 10 Marlins batted.
Montgomery put the first two on. A throwing error by Misner, three hits, a sac fly, another walk by Seabold and a force play at second the Rays didn’t make led to four more runs.
There were a lot of factors as they dropped to 20-24. But, as Cash said, the seven walks, matching their season high, were pretty much the story.
“It’s really hard to see it, because I know how dominant they are,” Caballero said. “Having the kind of game that we had today, it’s really hard for the pitching staff, and I feel for them, because they put the work in.
“It’s just one of those nights things don’t go your way.”
• • •
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Friday’s 9-4 loss was as much a product of what the Rays did wrong as the Marlins did right.
Like the seven batters walked by Tampa Bay starter Taj Bradley and the bullpen, four of whom scored. (Plus they gave up 13 hits.)
“Just falling behind and not being able to reset the count,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “That is very uncharacteristic. We do such a good job usually of being in the zone and staying in the zone. Giving up hits is one thing. But free passes ultimately, really, was the outcome of the game.”
And some sloppy work in the field, including a couple of missed plays that could have limited the opportunities — or even ended the pivotal fourth inning — before the Marlins went on to score four runs.
“We always put the work in. And we’ve been known for being a good defensive team,” shortstop Jose Caballero said. “In those situations, I feel like sometimes it just doesn’t go our way.”
Bradley had a bad and abbreviated outing, pulled after a 36-pitch fourth inning in which he walked three (for the first time in an inning in his career) and wasn’t able to make the play on what could have been a double play. Junior Caminero then threw wide of first after fielding a grounder.
“Walks didn’t help him, deep pitch counts, we didn’t make plays behind him that we need to make for him,” Cash said. “That one inning unraveled. (Caminero) needs to make that play and Taj needs to overcome it. We just didn’t.
“And we let a team create a little traction and they ran with it and scored a bunch of runs.”
For the night, Bradley allowed five runs, six hits, three walks and a hit batter, striking out six, throwing 82 pitches (51 strikes) to get the 12 outs. That ended his streak of working at least five innings in 10 straight starts.
He took the blame.
“I just didn’t attack the zone at all,” Bradley said. “Threw too many off-speeds for balls that were taken out of (my) hand and just didn’t make better pitches.”
The score was 1-1 when the bottom of the fourth started, but that changed quickly.
Bradley started by walking former Rays minor-leaguer Ronny Simon. The Rays had a chance for a double play when Graham Pauley grounded to first. Jonathan Aranda threw to second for the lead out, but Caballero’s return throw bounced out of Bradley’s glove.
Cash said he thought Pauley was safe. Bradley said he couldn’t tell but knew “I just didn’t have a good footing on the bag.” Caballero thought they had it.
“We did everything right in the double play that you mentioned, and the ball just dropped,” Caballero said. “It’s nobody’s fault. It’s just the ball just dropped. He was there, I threw the ball, and we couldn’t make that out.”
That was magnified when Caminero came in for Derek Hill’s grounder but his throw pulled Aranda off the base.
“We have to make that play,” Cash said. “That’s an error (on Caminero).”
Caminero didn’t want to say much when asked about the play.
“He’s asking you if you think that he wants to commit errors and just have a bad throw, yes or no,” team interpreter Eddie Rodriguez said.
Told the reporter just wanted to know what happened on the play, Caminero said, “That’s something that happens in the game. I don’t want to commit errors.”
Bradley got a flyball out that advanced the runners, walked Jesus Sanchez (another former Rays minor-leaguer) to load the bases, and walked Agustin Ramirez to force in a run. Worse, he then gave up a double over Simpson’s head in leftfield that cleared the bases.
“Usually we attack the zone with all pitches,” Bradley said. “Just to get into that bases-loaded jam, I was just nitpicking around the zone trying to create soft contact when I should have just been attacking.”
The Rays rallied, cutting the 5-1 lead to 5-4 in the fifth, getting hits from Kameron Misner, Caballero, Chander Simpson (who had three for the night) and Josh Lowe.
But then the bullpen let the game get away again in the sixth, rookie Mason Montgomery and recent callup Connor Seabold combining to give up four more runs as 10 Marlins batted.
Montgomery put the first two on. A throwing error by Misner, three hits, a sac fly, another walk by Seabold and a force play at second the Rays didn’t make led to four more runs.
There were a lot of factors as they dropped to 20-24. But, as Cash said, the seven walks, matching their season high, were pretty much the story.
“It’s really hard to see it, because I know how dominant they are,” Caballero said. “Having the kind of game that we had today, it’s really hard for the pitching staff, and I feel for them, because they put the work in.
“It’s just one of those nights things don’t go your way.”
• • •
Sign up for our Sports Today newsletter to get daily updates on the Bucs, Rays, Lightning and college football across Florida.
Every weekday, tune into our Sports Day Tampa Bay podcast to hear reporter Rick Stroud break down the biggest stories in Tampa Bay sports.
Never miss out on the latest with your favorite Tampa Bay sports teams. Follow our coverage on X and Facebook.
Continue reading...
