(Photo credit: Anthony Ateek/X-Rays Spex)
Endless Bummer? (Photo credit: Anthony Ateek/X-Rays Spex)

Danny Russell (DRaysBay) summed up the Tampa Bay Rays 1-0 loss to the Boston Red Sox well — all in 140 characters or less:

Chris Archer was great once again, although he took the 1-0 loss on the chin. Blame the offense for this one. The de facto ace allowed just one unearned run on seven hits and a walk in 5-2/3 innings of work. Archer’s best weapon was undoubtedly his wipe out slider, and he used it to great effect. 13 of his total 17 whiffs came courtesy of slider, and he racked up eight swinging strikeouts (nine overall) with it; making the Red Sox’s hitters look silly all the while.

Unfortunately for Archer, however, his scoreless streak ended at 16 innings, thanks to a Ryan Brett throwing error on an errant throw to first on a potential inning-ending double play ground-ball by Dustin Pedroia; Ryan Hanigan scored on the play. Archer attempted a 1-4-3 double play, but Brett’s relay skipped past Logan Forsythe at first.

If the Red Sox did one thing well,* it was work good at-bats which allowed them to chase Archer from the game in the sixth inning. Yet, in return, they faced a solid bullpen that continued to throw zeroes on the board. On the whole, Archer did a great job working around hits and the one walk to stifle Boston.

Archer spoke about his outing after the game:

Brandon Gomes followed Archer and finished the sixth with a strikeout. He came back out in the following inning and worked a scoreless seventh.

Ernesto Frieri took the hill in the eighth inning and worked around a lead-off walk for a scoreless frame.

Shane Victorino led off the ninth by blooping a double into the Rays bullpen off Jose Dominguez. And while Victorino moved to third on a sac-bunt by Brock Holt, Dominguez came back to strikeout Ryan Hanigan and force a fly-ball out of Mookie Betts to end the inning and the threat.

A bright spot, David Ortiz went 0-3 with a walk.

Offensively, Tampa Bay managed just four hits, and had only one real good opportunity to score runs in the sixth. The Rays loaded the bases with two outs against Red Sox starter Wade Miley. Alexi Ogando came on and got Desmond Jennings to ground into a 6-4 fielder’s choice to put down the threat. From that point on, the Boston bullpen did not allow a base runner until Logan Forsythe singled to start the ninth. Sadly Forsythe was erased when Evan Longoria grounded into a 5-4-3 double play.

Wade Miley and four relievers combined on a four-hitter.

It bears mentioning, as Longoria made his way into the batter’s box in the sixth inning, Juan Nieves (Red Sox pitching coach) made his way to the mound to talk strategy with Miley. It was obvious the conversation had something to do with Miley would pitching around Longoria to get to the .205 BA/.321 OBP/.205 SLG/.526 OPS/2 RBI slashing Desmond Jennings. The strategy worked. After Miley walked Longoria to load the bases, he coaxed a weak inning ending grounder to short out of Jennings. I really hope Cash puts James Loney behind Longo in the batting order when he returns this weekend. Jennings in the five hole just isn’t working.

To add insult to injury, Brett, who had the first Rays hit off Wade Miley in the bottom of the third, was picked off first and partially dislocated his left shoulder sliding back into the bag.

GIF courtesy of DRaysBay.
GIF courtesy of DRaysBay.

The infielder caught his left arm in the dirt on the dive back into the bag, and needed it popped back into place. He will be evaluated Wednesday morning. The Rays already have an MLB high 10 players on the disabled list, and Brett looks like he could be the 11th.

Brett spoke with Rays Radio about the injury which he’s suffered before:

*At 0-12 wRISP, lord knows it certainly wasn’t driving in runs.

The New What Next

Game two of the series is Wednesday. Nathan Karns will toe the rubber opposite of RHP Joe Kelly. Kelly’s repertoire features a power sinker (occasionally hitting 98), curve-ball, slider and change up. Kelly likes to get quick outs and put guys away with his whiffy off-speed stuff. You can read about the pitching match-up in our series preview.

Rays 4/22/15 Starting Lineup

DeJesus DH
Souza RF
Cabrera SS
Longoria 3B
Jennings LF
Dykstra 1B
Forsythe 2B
Kiermaier CF
Rivera C
Karns P

 Noteworthiness

Brandon Guyer, Steven Souza, Logan Forsythe, Evan Longoria, Desmond Jennings, and Tim Beckham were the first six batters Tuesday night. Not exactly Murderers’ Row.

They were followed by Rene Rivera as the DH and Brett. It was an inauspicious debut for Brett, who got picked off first base by Miley in the third, and suffered a dislocated shoulder on his slide back to the bag and had to leave the game. Catcher Bobby Wilson was in the nine-hole.
We understand the financial constraints in Tampa, but can you spend a few more sheckles to put out a major league lineup?

No wonder only 14,307 came to Tropicana Field. What are you watching? Archer is good and entertaining but there wasn’t much pushback from their lineup.

Medical Matters

  • For an injury update on Drew Smyly, head to a recent thread we started Tuesday.
  • James Loney is set to return from an oblique strain this weekend. Loney will need a game or two in the minors to get back his timing. He took full practice (batting, fielding) Tuesday.
  • The Rays placed INF Ryan Brett on the 15-day DL (left shoulder subluxation) and selected INF Jake Elmore from the Durham Bulls. To make room for Elmore on the 40-man roster, the team transferred LHP Jeff Beliveau to the 60-day DL. Beliveau will undergo surgery Thursday to repair a torn left labrum.
  • Alex Colome made an inefficient third rehab start on Tuesday, throwing 77 pitches without completing four innings for Triple-A Durham. And while he allowed just one run on four hits, Colome walked three. A positive, he fanned six.
  • Alex Cobb is slated to play catch Wednesday for the second consecutive day with hopes of getting on the mound by the end of the week.

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