Tampa Bay played poorly in the field while Brendan McKay had his first sub-par start in the majors, as the Rays fell to the Chicago White Sox on Friday, 9-2. The Rays have dropped four straight games, while Chicago snapped a seven-game skid.
McKay allowed six runs (five earned) on nine hits (including five doubles and a homer) while striking out five across 3-1/3 innings. McKay got off to a rough start, giving up a run in the first inning following by three in the second and two more in the fourth prior to being lifted. The southpaw struggled mightily in his second outing since the All-Star Break, although he still owns a 3.72 ERA and 1.03 WHIP with 18 punchouts over 19-1/3 innings this season. He threw 76 pitches (52 strikes, 68% strike rate).
As for the defensive miscues, Leury Garcia started the game with a double that sailed over Austin Meadows’ head in right-center as he overran it. In the second inning, with two outs and a runner on first, Adam Engel beat out a grounder to Joey Wendle at short before Garcia looped a ball to right that fell between Mike Brosseau, Meadows and Nate Lowe for what was scored a two-run double. That was followed by another double that fell into play similarly.
The Rays answered in the bottom of the first inning after Meadows tripled to left-center off Reynaldo Lopez and scored on Ji-Man Choi’s single to right-center. They also got one back in the second when Wendle hit a bloop double to center with two outs, and Brosseau drove him home on a run-scoring double to left-center.
That was all they would score of Gomez, ending the night 2-for-7 wRISP while stranding seven men on base. Tampa Bay didn’t get a runner beyond second after the second inning. The Rays have scored just eight total runs in the last four games.
Andrew Kittredge took over for McKay one out in the fourth and managed to get the final two outs of the frame without any more damage, but Chicago added two more in the fifth on a pair of two-out runs. Engle tripled to right after Sanchez hit a bloop double in front of Tommy Pham in left. A wild pitch scored Engel to put the Sox up by six.
Oliver Drake, Emilio Pagan, and Diego Castillo were able to pitch scoreless innings for the Rays, which is encouraging, however, Yolmer Sanchez capped the scoring on a two-out RBI double against Ryne Stanek in the ninth.
The New What Next
Ryan Yarbrough (8-3, 4.26 ERA) will get the start opposite of White Sox ace Lucas Giolito (11-4, 3.23 ERA).
Ryan Yarbrough was excellent on Sunday, allowing one run on two hits while striking out six over 6-1/3 innings. Yarbrough carried a combined perfect game into the ninth inning before he surrendered a run in the bottom of the frame on a single to right field. The 27-year-old southpaw has thrown the ball well of late, relinquishing just three runs over his last five appearances (21-1/3 innings) while fanning 19. Yarbrough is 0-0 with an 8.44 ERA in one career outing (5-1/3 innings) against the White Sox.
Lucas Giolito gave up three runs on seven hits and one walk while striking out five across six innings on Monday. Giolito coaxed 10 swinging strikes in the hard-luck loss quality start. Giolito had dominated Kansas City in his career, posting a 6-0 record with a 2.13 ERA coming into this contest. Even with the loss, it was a bounce-back outing for Giolito after he allowed six runs in his previous start against the Cubs. Giolito has an 11-4 record with a 3.23 ERA, a 10.6 K/9 and a 3.3 BB/9 (3.21 K/BB) through 18 starts this season. He is 1-0 with a 1.29 ERA in two career starts against Tampa Bay (14 innings). Key Matchup: Travis d’Arnaud (1-3, HR, RBI)
You can read about the series in our preview, while the starting lineup and Noteworthiness are below.
Rays 7/20/19 Starting Lineup
- Choi 1B
- Meadows RF
- Pham LF
- Lowe DH
- Diaz 3B
- Wendle 2B
- Garcia CF
- Adames SS
- Zunino C
Noteworthiness
— The Rays made several roster moves on Saturday, recalling RHP Hunter Wood from Triple-A Durham, activating Chaz Roe from the 10-day Injured List, optioning Brendan McKay to Durham, and placing Ryne Stanek on the 10-day IL with right hip soreness. Stanek is the 20th different Ray to be placed on the IL this season.
— The Rays have lost their last four home games to Chicago, extending back to 2018. Yesterday the White Sox struck out 16 times but also collected 16 hits, their most in a road game this season.
— Per Neil Solondz (Rays Radio), Matt Duffy was off yesterday and will play today. With the Rays scheduled to face three lefties against Boston, there’s a good chance he will be activated for that series.