Saturday, August 24. Game 131: Playoffs seem unlikely after loss to Orioles.

Rays 1, Orioles 7

Record:  76-55

Attendance:  11,409.  Oriole Park at Camden Yards

In a mirror image of Friday night's game in which the Rays beat the Orioles 7-1, the big blow being a Grand Slam, on Saturday the Orioles beat the Rays by the same score with the big blow being a Grand Slam.  It was like the same game being played in an alternate Universe.

In Friday night's game, it was Trevor Richards and Aaron Slegers giving the Rays' staff a much-needed lift and a whiff of hope for the last 31 games of the year, a stretch where they will be playing some of the better teams in baseball.

On Saturday night, opener Jose Alvarado and bulk man Austin Pruitt buried the Rays.  Alvarado lasted a third of an inning giving up one hit, three walks, a run-scoring wild pitch, and one run.  He said he felt fine during his ineffective stint, but after the game he  complained to a trainer that he had elbow pain.  Manager Kevin Cash did not exactly dispute his strong-armed lefty, but said after the game that neither he nor anyone on his staff know of an injury until the game was over, according to Marc Topkin in the Tampa Bay Times.  "I don't think the injury had anything to do with [Saturday's] performance. I don't."  Alvarado was immediately placed on the IR and sent for tests back in Tampa.

Alvarado's season has been disappointing, even disastrous.  Early successes made him the all-but-officially-announced closer, but then he began losing games and becoming undependable.  Then he left the team for personal reasons, had a stint on the IL and never recovered the formula for his early successes.  At this point he seems not just out of the picture for the remainder of this season, but he may have tested the team's patience once too often.  He is certainly a major cause for the problems that beset this team which has not consistently played at the top of the market.  His raw talent may get him a return opportunity next season, but don't be surprised if the Rays get rid of him before that. 

Pruitt pitched five and two-thirds giving up five hits, one walk, and six runs, the big one coming from Pedro Severino's Grand Slam in the third.

It's hard to imagine how Saturday's game could have gone worse for this team that still has a real shot at the playoffs.  Theoretically.  It's just a silly pipe dream, however, if they continue to play the way they did today.