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TAMPA — The Rays bats suddenly have grown silent, the only sound emanating from them the swish of air with all the swinging and missing that has taken place the past few days at Steinbrenner Field.
In Friday night’s 1-0 loss to the Yankees, they struck out a season-high 15 times in suffering their fourth straight loss.
The Rays also wasted another good outing by starter Drew Rasmussen, whose 22-inning scoreless streak against the Yankees ended in the second inning on Trent Grisham’s RBI single.
In fact, it was the Rays’ second 1-0 loss in three days, a remarkable offensive drought considering they had only done so 40 times in their first 27 seasons.
“I know every one of our hitters are feeling it right now, and there’s probably some added pressure just because of how magnifying it’s been early on and throughout this stretch of some losses,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “We’ve had opportunities and haven’t capitalized.”
Unfortunately, the Rays also haven’t done much with their 13-game homestand, falling to 4-7 with two games remaining.
The Rays squandered the only two good scoring chances they had Friday. They had Jose Caballero on third with one out in the fifth, but Taylor Walls grounded to first and Caballero was caught in a rundown between third and home, and tagged out.
“It was a contact play, and it was a shot right at the first baseman,” Caballero said. “I was kind of in no-man’s-land right in the middle and just trying to get (Walls) into scoring position so he could score with a hit. If I stay at third base, we still need a hit.”
Walls went to second on the rundown and third on a wild pitch but got no farther, as Yandy Diaz struck out.
Johnathan Aranda led off the seventh with a double but was thrown out trying to reach third base on a relay from shortstop Anthony Volpe to Oswaldo Cabrera.
“Yeah, ideally he’d hold up right there,” Cash said. “His game is homers and doubles. The play is in front of him. He thought that he had it. Again, they executed a really good relay, and Volpe is as good as anybody getting rid of the ball. He gets rid of the ball quick and accurate.”
If you’re into silver linings, the Rays defense continued to shine Friday. It could’ve just as easily been a 3-0 loss, but Caballero, making only his sixth start in the outfield, leaped high above the rightfield wall to rob Ben Rice of a home run with one aboard in the eighth.
“As soon as I saw the ball coming at me, I knew it was close to the wall,” Caballero said. “I tried to see the ball, where it was. It was over my head, so I jumped and just tried to catch it. I’m just trying to make a play for the team and keep us alive.”
The Yankees scored their only run in the second inning. Paul Goldschmidt singled to right. After striking out Jazz Chisholm Jr., Rasmussen walked J.C. Escarra. Volpe struck out before Trent Grisham singled to center to score Goldschmidt.
Aside from that hiccup, Rasmussen continued his mastery of the Yankees, working into the sixth inning for the first time since returning from an elbow injury. He allowed just one run on three hits and three walks while striking out seven.
“We’re going to look at the positives. I think that’s the best thing you can do right now,” Cash said. “We’re certainly frustrated the offense hasn’t been helping out the pitchers a little bit more, but we have played pretty clean baseball, good defense, and our pitching is keeping us in games. But eventually this offense is going to pop and needs to pop soon.”
But Friday, it was mowed down by Yankees starter Carlos Rodon and three relievers. They whiffed, fanned and otherwise came up empty, K-ration that won’t lend itself to many wins.
“He was erratic early on, and if you don’t get him when he’s working through being erratic he’s really tough,” Cash said of Rodon. “Between the fastball, the slider backdoor and the slider to righties, we didn’t have too many answers.”
• • •
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In Friday night’s 1-0 loss to the Yankees, they struck out a season-high 15 times in suffering their fourth straight loss.
The Rays also wasted another good outing by starter Drew Rasmussen, whose 22-inning scoreless streak against the Yankees ended in the second inning on Trent Grisham’s RBI single.
In fact, it was the Rays’ second 1-0 loss in three days, a remarkable offensive drought considering they had only done so 40 times in their first 27 seasons.
“I know every one of our hitters are feeling it right now, and there’s probably some added pressure just because of how magnifying it’s been early on and throughout this stretch of some losses,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “We’ve had opportunities and haven’t capitalized.”
Unfortunately, the Rays also haven’t done much with their 13-game homestand, falling to 4-7 with two games remaining.
The Rays squandered the only two good scoring chances they had Friday. They had Jose Caballero on third with one out in the fifth, but Taylor Walls grounded to first and Caballero was caught in a rundown between third and home, and tagged out.
“It was a contact play, and it was a shot right at the first baseman,” Caballero said. “I was kind of in no-man’s-land right in the middle and just trying to get (Walls) into scoring position so he could score with a hit. If I stay at third base, we still need a hit.”
Walls went to second on the rundown and third on a wild pitch but got no farther, as Yandy Diaz struck out.
Johnathan Aranda led off the seventh with a double but was thrown out trying to reach third base on a relay from shortstop Anthony Volpe to Oswaldo Cabrera.
“Yeah, ideally he’d hold up right there,” Cash said. “His game is homers and doubles. The play is in front of him. He thought that he had it. Again, they executed a really good relay, and Volpe is as good as anybody getting rid of the ball. He gets rid of the ball quick and accurate.”
If you’re into silver linings, the Rays defense continued to shine Friday. It could’ve just as easily been a 3-0 loss, but Caballero, making only his sixth start in the outfield, leaped high above the rightfield wall to rob Ben Rice of a home run with one aboard in the eighth.
“As soon as I saw the ball coming at me, I knew it was close to the wall,” Caballero said. “I tried to see the ball, where it was. It was over my head, so I jumped and just tried to catch it. I’m just trying to make a play for the team and keep us alive.”
The Yankees scored their only run in the second inning. Paul Goldschmidt singled to right. After striking out Jazz Chisholm Jr., Rasmussen walked J.C. Escarra. Volpe struck out before Trent Grisham singled to center to score Goldschmidt.
Aside from that hiccup, Rasmussen continued his mastery of the Yankees, working into the sixth inning for the first time since returning from an elbow injury. He allowed just one run on three hits and three walks while striking out seven.
“We’re going to look at the positives. I think that’s the best thing you can do right now,” Cash said. “We’re certainly frustrated the offense hasn’t been helping out the pitchers a little bit more, but we have played pretty clean baseball, good defense, and our pitching is keeping us in games. But eventually this offense is going to pop and needs to pop soon.”
But Friday, it was mowed down by Yankees starter Carlos Rodon and three relievers. They whiffed, fanned and otherwise came up empty, K-ration that won’t lend itself to many wins.
“He was erratic early on, and if you don’t get him when he’s working through being erratic he’s really tough,” Cash said of Rodon. “Between the fastball, the slider backdoor and the slider to righties, we didn’t have too many answers.”
• • •
Sign up for the Sports Today newsletter to get daily updates on the Bucs, Rays, Lightning and college football across Florida.
Never miss out on the latest with your favorite Tampa Bay sports teams. Follow our coverage on Instagram, X and Facebook.
Continue reading...
