The Rays absolutely had their chances to win this game to wrap up a five-day and two-game road trip, but bad baserunning in multiple innings left the club scoreless to set up an Aaron Judge walk-off home run in the 9th.
The game for the Rays came down to two innings – the 3rd and the 8th – and poor decisions on the basepaths derailed both innings. Carson Williams led off the third with a walk, but was promptly picked off first by Ryan Weathers:
That moment was followed by singles from both Yandy Diaz and Jonathan Aranda, but instead of Williams scoring on either event, the inning ended when Junior Caminero grounded into a 6-4-3 double play. The 8th inning was more painful because a one-out double off the wall by Diaz was soon followed by a two-out intentional walk of Caminero by Fernando Cruz. Kevin Cash elected to leave Ryan Vilade in to face Cruz with Tim Hill warming in the pen, and Vilade had a tremendous at bat against Cruz singling into left field. That single would have easily scored pinch-running Oliver Dunn if Caminero had not decided that he should take it upon himself to go first to third on a ball hit to left field and get thrown out at third before Dunn was able to cross the plate:
Bellinger picked up the baseball as Caminero was into his second step toward third base from mid-left field, and from the video above, it is not clear when he made the decision to run, but his delusions of grandeur cost the Rays the go-ahead run in the 8th because this was just an aggressively bone-headed decision that someone who is not the fleetest of foot absolutely cannot make in that moment:
It turns out one run would not have mattered as Kevin Kelly turned an 0-2 count to Grisham into a walk before Aaron Judge broke out of his 11-game RBI slump with a walk-off shot into right-center field.
The bad baserunning should not take away from what a brilliantly pitched game by both starters today. Ryan Weathers held the Rays at bay through the first seven innings with only Nick Fortes making any type of hard contact off him. Weathers only generated five swings and misses, but the combination of his stuff and the damp and windy weather shut down the offense. Rasmussen went seven innings on 92 pitches generating 14 whiffs resulting in six strikeouts and just one walk. It was the first time in three years Rasmussen worked seven complete innings and his sixth consecutive start allowing three or fewer runs since the unfortuate outing in Pittsburgh five weeks ago.
One area of positivity was something Nick Fortes corrected during the game. Jazz Chisholm Jr was easily able to steal a base in the second inning as Fortes’s throw went to the shortstop side of the bag, something he did twice on Friday night:
David Laurila had an interesting piece on Fangraphs the other day which included quotes from Hunter Feduccia in it
“I don’t know exactly when they started teaching this, but it’s more to the right side of the bag,” Feduccia told me. “The infielder will set up there to give you a good target. If you tag the runner before he gets to the bag, you have a better chance of not getting swim-moved, and things like that. If you accidentally pull your throw to the left side of the bag, you’re not giving yourself as much of a chance as when it’s toward the runner.”
The article then goes on to quote Matt LewCroy who says video review helped teams see throws to the first base side were yielding more out calls, and now teams are coaching that at all levels. Fortes self-corrected in the 4th and barely nabbed Bellinger attempted steal of second base:
The Rays have struggled all season to prevent the running game, but throws like that at least give the ifnielders a fighting chance and it was good to see Fortes make the better throw the next time the siutation presented itself.
The Rays have been in New York since Wednesday night and played just two games in their five-day, four-night stay and walk away with a series split and a 4.5 game lead in the division. They take an Amtrk down from Penn Station to Union Station in Baltimore, where the Orioles walked off the hapless Tigers today with Colton Cowser taking a center cut cutter from Kenley Jansen into the centerfield bleachers. Perhaps the coaches can conduct a micro-lesson while on the train on baserunning to avoid repeating the misatkes of the weekend which also included two pickoffs on inside moves at second base in the first game.