I call bullshit. Avisail Garcia’s moon shot traveled further than 459 feet. (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)
After five consecutive losses, a season-high, the Tampa Bay Rays look to salvage the final game of three against the Chicago White Sox. In losing the series to Chicago, Tampa Bay has lost a set to a team with a sub-.500 record for the first time this season.
Saturday recap:
— The Rays wasted a solid start by Ryan Yarbrough, who tossed six shutout innings while allowing two hits with no walks and five strikeouts. Tampa Bay didn’t score through six frames, and Chicago eventually won the game in extra innings. At the end of April, Yarbrough’s ERA sat at 8.10, resulting in a demotion. And while he’s had some rough outings since then, the left-hander owns a 2.75 ERA in his last 11 appearances. Since June 18, he has allowed just three runs across 27-1/3 frames (0.99 ERA). Overall, Yarbrough is 8-3 with a 3.93 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, and 58 punchouts in 75-2/3 innings (16 appearances) including five starts.
— 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position with 10 left on base. The Rays have scored just nine total runs over the life of their losing streak, and over the past six games are just 3-for-40 wRISP.
— While the Rays had plenty of opportunities to score runs (see above), they only pushed one run across on a moon shot by Avisail Garcia.
I call bullshit, that ball traveled further than the StatCast projection of 459 feet. Hadn’t the 2008 banner (which deflected the ball onto the catwalk) been there, the would have landed in the party deck, some 470 feet to 480 feet away.
— This pitch apparently broke the internet and/or physics:
— Try not to act surprised. Kevin Kiermaier exited the game with a left thumb sprain suffered on a head-first slide into first. Kiermaier had an MRI after the game which did not show a tear in the ligament, thus surgery on the injury will not be required.
The outfielder has been placed on the 10-day Injured List, while OF Guillermo Heredia has been recalled from Triple-A Durham. Kiermaier said he regrets sliding into first base, but also said he was just trying to make a play to help the team win. He hopes to be back in 10-15 days, saying the results of the MRI this morning were the “best news” he could have gotten.
The New What Next
Blake Snell (5-7, 4.55 ERA) will take the mound in the series finale, pitching opposite of Dylan Cease (1-1, 5.73).
Blake Snell allowed one run on three hits and two walks over five innings. He struck out four. Snell threw an inefficient 93 pitches (56 strikes, 60% strike rate) and did not have a clean inning in his first three frames, yet his only real mistake resulted in an Edwin Encarnacion solo shot in the fourth inning. Snell exited the contest in line for his sixth win of the season. The southpaw lowered his ERA by 15 points to 4.55 and has managed a 3.82 K/BB across 95 innings on the season. Snell is 3-0 with a 1.07 ERA in five career starts against Chicago (25-1/3 innings).
Dylan Cease allowed six runs (four earned) on eight hits and one walk with seven strikeouts on Tuesday. Kansas City scored two unearned runs in the first inning, yet that’s all they would need to hand Cease the loss. He displayed better control in this outing than in his first big league start, however, working more in the zone resulted in eight hits allowed. In two Major League starts, Cease owns a 5.73 ERA, 1.55 WHIP, and a 10.64 K/9 in 11 innings of work. He relies primarily on a 97 mph four-seam fastball with heavy sinking action and a whiffy 85 mph slider with lots of depth, while also mixing in an 80 mph 12-6 curveball, and an 83 mph changeup with a lot of backspin and surprising cut action.
You can read about the series in our preview, while the starting lineup is below.
Rays 7/21/19 Starting Lineup
- Choi DH
- Meadows RF
- Pham LF
- Lowe 1B
- Diaz 3B
- Garcia CF
- Wendle 2B
- d’Arnaud C
- Adames SS
Noteworthiness
— Rays skipper Kevin Cash said Matt Duffy is on a flight back to St. Petersburg and looks to be activated at some point during the Boston series.