Source: FanGraphs
The Rays dropped the final game of their home stand in a 6-5 loss to the Indians, following another fruitless (stop me if you’ve heard this one before) late inning rally. Of the Rays five losses this week, all of them found the Tampa Bay bringing the tying (and/or winning) run to the plate. Much like their previous four losses, Tampa Bay could have walked away with a win. The team with the worst road record in the AL, just took two of three from the Rays. Ouch.
Fresh on the heels of their 1-5 home stand, the Rays will hop a plane to the west coast where they’ll face Iwakuma, King Felix, and the Seattle Mariners. We’ll put together a series preview shortly.
Noteworthiness
- Chris Archer walked four in his five inning outing Sunday. Archer has now gone five or fewer innings in five consecutive starts. The culprits were the same: Archer couldn’t put the Indians away with two-strikes and two-outs — ultimately relinquishing more than a few big hits — while relying entirely too much on his slider (40 thrown), forcing him to come back with a fastball that lacked command.
- Desmond Jennings stayed in the game after getting hit on the hand by a 96 MPH pitch in the eighth inning of Sunday’s game. Joe Maddon said (in his post-game presser) it’s a good assumption he’ll be sore in the morning. They’ll assess things then. With, arguably, the toughest RHP in the American League getting the start tomorrow night (…ahem, Felix Hernandez), I wouldn’t expect to see DesJen getting the start in the first game of their upcoming series against the Mariners.