Rays, 1, Yankees 12
Record: 43-31
Attendance:41,144
What's it going to take for the Rays' front office to realize their team is not merely in a slump, that they are not nearly the team they thought they were, prayed they might be, back in the glory days of April? Since June 1 they are 8-11, and over the last 10 games, they are 3-7. And they've looked bad doing it, although not as bad as they did yesterday in the Yankee finale, when they got swept in a pathetic display, 12-1.
This last one was especially hard to take because the Rays were counting on their Cy Young winner Blake Snell to put them back on the winning path. What he did, however, was a disgrace. He lasted one-third of an inning. That's right, he threw 39 pitches to seven batters. He walked four of them, gave up a three-run homer to Gary Sanchez, and allowed six earned runs to score. This is the best we have? The best we can do?
No part of the team is performing well these days. They could only scrape together two hits on Monday when Masahiro Tanaka shut them out, 3-0; on Tuesday they had nine hits in a 6-3 loss; and in yesterday's 12-1 debacle, they had three hits. Starters and relievers have been giving up runs at an alarming pace, the Yankees beating the Rays by a score of 21-4.
These days baseball people are all looking ahead to the July 31 trade deadline, but the Rays's season could be finished by then. They need to make some moves now. And not the kind of moves that land them unproven rookies or triple A players. They need to sign a name player or two, which is possible through trades. Name free agents, with the exception of Charlie Morton, have chosen not to sign with the low-attendance Rays. Unless they have no-trade clauses in their contracts, however, players have little to say about trades that send them to Tampa. Tommy Pham last year is an excellent case in point. The Rays need to make another Pham-level trade or two to get back in the middle of this pennant race. The timing is critical if there is to be any remaining hope for post-season dreams.
Filed under the category of "Making Matters Worse": The Rays had to put Yandy Diaz on the IL for his right hamstring discomfort. Diaz has been one of the few bright spots this June, hitting .361. Daniel Robertson with his .205 average, was recalled from Durham to take his place. They also "bolstered" the bullpen by adding Austin Pruitt, who has a 5.46 ERA in Durham. In 12 and two-thirds innings for the Rays this year, his ERA is an even worse 6.39.
Looking to stop the bleeding, Charlie Morton takes the mound in Oakland at 10:07 tonight. Best case scenario: a rainout.
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