Tampa Bay took a short-lived one-run lead in the first inning after Brandon Guyer was hit by a pitch for an MLB-leading seventh time. Guyer eventually scored on Evan Longoria’s one-out double into the left field corner. Even though the Rays found themselves in an early strike while the iron is hot moment, neither Steve Pearce nor Steven Souza Jr. could continue the rally, stranding Longoria on second.
That lead, however, was erased in the second inning following Howie Kendrick’s one out single into center field. three pithes into the next at-bat, Moore left a fastball up in the zone and Trayce Thompson made him pay, blasting the 2-1 pitch off the C Ring in left-center for a two-run homer and a Dodgers lead.
Two batters later, Joc Pederson crushed a solo-shot off the batter’s eye in center field on a 3-1 fastball for a two-run advantage.
Curt Casali, who went down swinging with a runner in scoring position in the second, answered two innings later with a two-run homer to left, tying the game at three apiece.
.@Curtcasali opens the 7th. He’s already left the yard tonight vs. Kaz. #RaysUp
WATCH: https://t.co/NB2Fxb87gL pic.twitter.com/ZKB1JOLs2U
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) May 4, 2016
Casali now has both his homers off former Rays lefties, with one off David Price and the other off Scott Kazmir.
Nevertheless the Dodgers were relentless and again answered in the fifth after Enrique Hernandez drew a walk off Moore. Yasiel Puig followed with a bad-hop single off the chest Longoria that, had it not taken a bad hop, may have been a double play ball.
Tampa Bay picked up its first out after Adrian Gonzalez lined to center, but Justin Turned walked on a 3-2 pitch to ― as BA would say ― juice the bases. Kendrick, who prior to Tuesday had collected just eight hits and 0 RBI, doubled past the diving Longoria, plating a pair for a 5-3 lead. Los Angeles was not done.
Thompson followed with a grounder past the dive of Logan Forsythe for a four-run advantage, chasing Moore.
The Rays were able to inch closer when The Lakeland Launcher, Steve Pearce, hit a mammoth solo homer (2) to left in the fifth.
The @Dodgers made it a 7-3 game in the 5th. @WayneTwentyOcho just made it 7-4 on one swing. #RaysUp pic.twitter.com/megpIr1aYJ
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) May 4, 2016
Mopping up the mess left behind by Moore, Steve Geltz (1-2/3 innings) and Jhan Marinez (1-2/3 innings) combined for 3-1/3 scoreless frames to keep the Rays within striking distance. Be that as it may, and in spite of those quality innings, the tandem of Eveland and Webb allowed Los Angeles to take a late commanding lead.
Seager singled to center off Eveland before Kevin Cash gave him the short hook, opting for the ground ball inducing Webb. Former Ray Carl Crawford reached on a rare error by Forsythe just before Puig belted a 410 foot three-run homer to left in the ninth inning, putting the game well out of reach.
Tampa Bay made one last valiant effort by mounting a big two-out threat in the bottom of the inning against former J.P. Howell, although their efforts would go for naught. After coaxing a pair of fly-ball outs, Howell had a lapse in command that resulted in two consecutive walks and a Guyer base hit to load the bases. Longoria drove in the final run of the night on a hit by pitch, but the pinch hitting Corey Dickerson flew out to left against Kenley Jansen to end the game.
The New What Next
Another lefty matchup is on the books for the second straight game, with Drew Smyly (1-3, 2.60) starting for the Rays and Alex Wood (1-2, 4.82) going for the Dodgers. You can read about the pitching matchup in our series preview.
Rays 5/4/16 Starting Lineup
Forsythe 2B
Guyer CF
Longoria 3B
Pearce 1B
Souza RF
Dickerson DH
Jennings LF
Beckham SS
Casali C
Smyly LHP
Noteworthiness
— Souza continued his rash of poor plate appearances, going 0-4 with three strikeouts. If you’re counting, he has now struck out 10 times in his last 16 plate appearances.
— While I have grown incredibly tired of watching Souza argue balls and strikes with the umpires, at least he had a point Tuesday night. Let’s call the strike zone what it was: a royal headache of a mess.
— Talk about leaving chicken on the bone, despite scoring opportunities in the first, second, third and ninth innings, Tampa Bay went just 1-for-6 wRISP. Four of the Rays five runs scored with two outs.
— At some point a discussion needs to be made about the ineffectiveness of Ryan Webb and Dana Eveland. Webb was signed for his ability to coax ground balls, however, the righty has allowed eight runs on 11 hits (including two homers) in eight innings of work. As for Eveland, he’s now allowed five runs in just 6-1/3 innings.
If Webb is expected to work in tight ball games, I’d imagine a .500 BA/.500 OBP/1.000 SLG/1.500 OPS/.631 wOBA slash line in medium leverage situations doesn’t speak well for him. The team cut its losses early last season when they let go of Ronald Belisario and Grant Balfour. I cannot help but feel that a similar discussion on the future of Webb and Evaland would be warranted.