When things are rolling well, it becomes an expectation that they will continue to do so. Case in point, the Rays starting pitching over the last month and a half. Boy, does the hangover feel extra crappy when things don’t go your way. Case in point, Jeremy Hellickson’s 4.1 IP/7 H/4 ER/2 BB/3 K outing last night. The Rays fell flat on their faces, losing to the Arizona Diamondbacks by a score of 7-0 in front of 25,000+ fans.
Helly didn’t resemble the Rays dependable RHP that’s won his previous six starts. Rather, he had more in common with The Nibbler who hadn’t reared his ugly head in some time. To add insult to injury, Kyle Farnsworth (who couldn’t even record an out in the seventh inning…don’t act surprised) and Jamey Wright gave up a combined two runs on four hits in the seventh and eighth innings, while Cesar Ramos gave up a 422 foot solo-shot to Paul Goldschmidt in the ninth, sealing the Rays fate.
And though they recorded just three hits on the night, the Rays had their chances to score. However, you get blanked when you leave nine men on the bags, while going 0-6 wRISP. The most gut wrenching moment of the night came with the bases juiced one out into the seventh inning. The Rays trailed 5-0 at the time, and a big hit could have put them back in the ballgame. But Desmond Jennings struck out swinging, and Evan Longoria struck out looking to end the threat.
About that at-bat…
Heath Bell started the frustrating at-bat with a pair of high-and-on-the-outside-corner fastballs, for strikes one and two. He, predictably, threw a low and inside breaking pitch to change Longoria’s eye level. Finally, Bell came back with a high-and-on-the-outside-corner breaking pitch — the strike that sealed Longo’s fate. Bell’s sequence of pitches twas predictable at best, and I have no clue how he — the face of the franchise — couldn’t see it coming.
The Rays have an off-day ahead of a three game series against the St. Petersburg…urm, San Franciso Giants. Despite the loss, the Rays finished the month of July with their best record ever at 21-5, the third best July record in the history of baseball.
Noteworthiness
- Not everything was terrible last night. Ben Zobrist continued to hit the ball hard, going 2-for-4 with a double, and Alex Torres lowered his ERA to 0.27 after posting a 1.2 IP/1 H/2 K outing, throwing 19 pitches total (12 for strikes).
- Dave and Andy (on the radio side) interviewed Rays VP Matt Silverman. He mentioned that we can expect more family friendly ticket options down the stretch. Silverman also acknowledged that building a fan base is a relatively arduous and slow task. Ahem, just sayin’.