Sunday, September 22. Game 156. A step back, Rays lose to Red Sox, 7-4

Rays 4, Red Sox 7

Record:  92-64

Attendance:  17,946.  Tropicana Field.

The Rays probably lost Sunday's game because they couldn't get to the eleventh inning, which they own.

Or it could be because they played a bad game.

Ryan Yarbrough put them in a 4-0 hole in the first inning, the big blow  a three-run homer coming from C turned 1B Christian Vazquez.  The Rays chipped away with single runs in the first three innings, including an opposite field home run from Joey Wendle.  But then Andrew Kittredge replaced Yarbrough with runners on first and second and hit Xander Bogaerts, loading the bases.  Then he walked J. D. Martinez, forcing in a run.  Then he uncorked a wild pitch to score another run, and the Red Sox took a 6-3 lead.  It grew to 7-3 on Joey Wendle's error in the seventh.

If there was anything about the game that was promising for the Rays, it was two-way rookie Brandon McKay, who was called on as a pinch hitter in the ninth.  He hit a 420-foot homer to right field.  He has had nine at-bats, as a DH, PH, and as the pitcher in NL games where the pitchers hit, and he is now 2 for 9 (.222) with one long home run that got everyone's attention.  For the first time it seems that McKay may in fact have a major league two-way player future.

Yarbrough pitched three and a third, gave up eight hits, one walk, and six earned runs. The loss brought his record to 11-5.  Perhaps more scary, as reported in the Tampa Bay Times, he hasn't won since August 11, is 0-2 in his last seven starts, and has a 5.45 ERA over that stretch.  It's hard to see how Manager Cash can trust him with the ball in the remaining games--but he probably will. 

This was a loss when losses can't be tolerated if the Rays hope to make the postseason.  It's time for the cliches:  Their backs are against the wall.  There's no tomorrow.  Well, to be precise, there will be a pair of games against the Yankees when the Red Sox leave town on Monday night, and then after an off day on Thursday, the Rays travel to Toronto for a weekend series against the Blue Jays.  The way things are playing out between the Rays, the Indians, and the Athletics, the postseason may not be settled until that last weekend.  This is high drama, baseball style.