Which is more painful, losing a blowout? Or climbing back into a blowout and then losing by just one run?
From the Rays standpoint, this game felt like one of those punishments imposed by the gods in Greek myth. Like Sisyphus, on several occasions the Rays seemed poised to roll that boulder back up the hill, chipping away at the early Detroit lead, only to have it roll back down (as each Rays reliever allowed the Tigers to score yet again).
How did the Rays find themselves in this situation? Well, the “make Griffin Jax a starter” project hit a bump. In the first inning, the converted reliever gave up three base hits, one a very well-struck double, and two runs, before retiring the Tigers in the first inning.
But it turns out that was just the warm up. Because in the third innings Jax’s outing went from “a little shaky” to “full blown stinker.” He walked the leadoff batter and then proceeded to give up not one, not two, but three home runs. And this to a Tigers team that was ranked 29th out of 30 teams in runs scored this season. Imagine if he had been facing a team with a strong offense!
Jax was pulled after four innings (and six runs). The next man up was Trevor Martin, and bless him for getting through three innings and saving other arms, but he got into the home run game as well, giving up two solo shots.
Cole Sulser was tapped to pitch the eighth inning. The good news? No home runs. The bad news? He still allowed two more runs via base hits. In case you’ve lost count, that brought the Tigers total to ten.
It’s not like the Rays didn’t have their moments, and even more chances to have more moments. For one thing, they drew eight walks. That creates a lot of opportunities.
They also got two monster home runs, each with runners on base, and each providing a glimmer of hope that the Rays could come back.
First, Junior hit a two run homer in the fourth inning. That made the score 6-2, with a lot of innings to go.
Later, Ryan Vilade hit a three run homer in the sixth inning, which made the score 8-5, still with plenty of time remaining.
And these homers weren’t baby dingers either. Junior’s was 110.4 mph and it traveled 422 feet.
Here’s Vilade’s, which was 110.1 mph and traveled 438 feet.
Our final glimmer came in the eight inning. The Tigers walked the bases loaded, and then Nick Fortes drove in two runs with a double — a chopper up the third base line that took a lucky (for the Rays) carom — making the score 10-7. And Ben Williamson then singled home two more, and we were at 10-9.
Oh, if only Rays pitches could have stopped the bleeding at, say, eight runs!
As if the loss were not discouraging enough, the Rays lost two players to injury tonight. Taylor Walls left the game with a tight hamstring, a problem that had kept him out of the line up from time to time. And Chandler Simpson left after sliding into second base; it seemed that his batting helmet flew off an hit him in the mouth. There was a lot of blood, but presumably this isn’t a serious injury.
To the Rays: next time your opponents try to hand you a win, with eight walks and some spotty fielding, I’d advise you to take it.
Tomorrow Steven Matz takes the mound, let’s hope he has that last rough start in the rear view mirror.