Thursday, September 12. Game 148: A dud and a thud, Rays fall out of first place in wild card race

Rays 4, Rangers 6

Record 87-61

Attendance:  18,222

The Rays needed to bounce back from Wednesday's crushing 10-9 defeat by taking the rubber game of the three-game set against the Texas Rangers and avoid a tailspin in the last two weeks of the season.  They lost the game 6-4, their hitting falling short and their pitching falling even shorter.  And the defense was charged with two errors though it was shakier than that.  As to the tailspin, we'll have to wait now to see how they respond in the opening game against the L.A. Angels on Friday night.

If the game was a dud, there was also a loud thud as the team fell into second place in the wildcard race as the Oakland Athletics took over first place beating the AL West leading Astros for a third straight day.  Unless the A's show some signs of fallibility in the last two weeks of the season, the Rays are not likely to take over first again.

The Rays tied the score at one in the top of the second, but they had bases loaded and no outs--and barely managed a single run to tie the game.  Then a combination of no lock-down pitching and a suddenly porous defense gave the Rangers four runs in the fourth.  The Rays came back with three in the fifth, the big blow a double from Austin Meadows, who continues the team's hottest hitter.  Texas added a run in the seventh while the Rays went scoreless for the last four innings.

Rays pitching was led by Brandon McKay, who managed three and a third innings giving up six hits, two walks, and three runs.  He also took the loss and is now 2-4 on the year.  He was replaced by Pete Fairbanks, who was traded near the trade deadline in July for Rays farmhand Nick Solak.  Solak has been hitting .385 over the last week with ten hits, two homers, eight RBIs, and five walks.  He's hitting cleanup for the Rangers.  And in the fourth inning against Fairbanks he hit a two-run home run.  So not only did he effectively beat the Rays, he left management scratching its head how they could have missed the upside of Solak's bat.

A dud and a thud.

But the pennant race continues without missing a beat on Friday night against the Angels.  The best way to get over two bad losses in a row to a barely .500 team is to win the next game.  At this point every game is a must-win contest.  The Rays have to keep the pressure on--and hope the A's and Cleveland Indians blink under the pressure.