Out of all the Rays losses so far, this had to be one of the more frustrating ones. The Orioles took both games against the Rays so far, and the Rays just don’t look their best. It’s so frustrating that this year the Rays were finally being taken seriously by MLB, power rankings, etc., and they are off to such a shaky start.
Glasnow Takes the Mound
Tyler Glasnow had a strong first inning but showed some signs of weakness in the second. After walking two in a row, he was shaking off his hand and showing signs of discomfort. The Rays pitching coach Kyle Snyder came out and handed him a towel to wipe sweat off his arm.
It didn’t help much, Glasnow walked the next batter to load the bases. With 2 outs, a full count, and bases loaded, Glasnow threw a fastball down the middle which ended up being dangerously close to a grand slam. Thankfully, Margot caught it near the centerfield wall.
I am 100 percent confident that Glasnow is capable of getting right back into the right mindset and continue executing. The ability to shake off a bad pitch and continue on is one of Glasnow’s biggest strengths. The only thing is that he was already near 50 pitches after 2 innings. Players are still adjusting to being back, but limiting the number of pitches thrown will be important going forward. Glasnow is such a talented pitcher, and we want him in the game as long as possible.
That being said, Glasnow had a much needed quick 3rd inning. Only four pitches were thrown to retire the side.
Unfortunately, the fourth inning wasn’t as quick. Nuñez launched a curveball deep to centerfield for a home run. A couple of hits later, the Rays were down 2-0.
Normally, I wouldn’t be worried about the Rays coming back from a 2-0 deficit. But based on the way the offense has been playing lately, I was definitely concerned.
Messy Defense
A lot of the guys have been having issues defensively, especially on this road trip. Willy Adames in particular had 4 errors charged to him so far this season.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Adames let a ground ball under his glove. It was a hard hit ball (103 mph Exit velocity), but it should’ve been a routine putout. He was visibly frustrated in the dugout following the inning.
Hunter Renfroe had an interesting play in the bottom of the 6th. There was a hard hit fly ball to right field that ended up falling for a hit. With a runner on first, Renfroe dove for the ball and missed, but thankfully was able to knock it down.
This was a really tough play, but he shouldn’t have dove. Renfroe was positioned way too far to make that catch. If the ball got by him the run would’ve scored from first. The only thing that would make me feel more comfortable with the dive is if Margot was backing him up, but this wasn’t shown on the broadcast.
Runners Left on Base
I don’t know what is going on with the Rays offense. But if there are no outs and the Rays get the leadoff man on, they need to figure out how to move him over and get him home. So frustrating to get a hit and then three strikeouts/ground outs to follow it up.
The Rays have been scoring a lot of their runs this season with 2 outs. I’ll take a run any way they can get it, but it would be better strategy wise to have some outs to work with.
Finally a Breakthrough
In the 8th inning Wendle hit a single to lead off the inning. Yandy Diaz nearly grounded into a double play, but ended up safe at first due to an errant throw by the Orioles pitcher, Armstrong. The Rays finally had two base runners and no outs.
After a Ji-Man Choi strike out, Tsutsugo drew a walk to load the bases. Jose Martinez then came through with a pop fly that dropped in for a hit, scoring one run. Brandon Lowe then reached base on a fielder’s choice, followed up by a single from Kiermaier. It was a productive inning, bringing the score to 4-4.
Despite his offensive struggles, Kiermaier has been clutch at the plate this season so far.
Extra Innings
Choi started the 10th inning at second base as the ghost runner with Tsutsugo at the plate. After a long fly ball to the left field wall was caught, Choi tried to tag up to third and was called out.
Just seemed like a really bad idea to tag there. With this new rule, the ghost runner is automatically placed in scoring position. Moving the runner to third would be helpful, but isn’t worth attempting in a risky situation. In this case, the left fielder had a straight shot to the third basemen for the out. Choi was out by a mile.
By some miracle, the Orioles sent their ghost runner home on a soft ground ball to Wendle. He was called out at the plate.
Fast forward to the bottom of the 11th, Chaz Roe was put in with 2 outs and gave up a single to score the winning run. He was ahead in the count 0-2 and ended up missing his spot over the plate to give up the hit.
Concluding Thoughts
This was a painful game for Rays fans filled with quiet bats, defensive mishaps and bad baserunning. I’m definitely eagerly awaiting when the Rays get some good momentum and start playing like the team they are. The rays have so many talented players and can handle tough teams. They just need to start clicking sooner rather than later.
It’s clear that the Rays are frustrated with the way they’ve been playing recently. They’ve said time and time again that their focus is on winning and maintaining last year’s mindset.
Even though it’s been a tough stretch to start the season, I have faith that they’ll be able to get it together and be the strong, exciting team Rays fans expect them to be.
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