In a younger season that has been measured in streaks, that is one the Rays wish to keep away from. The Astros shut them out 1-0 on Wednesday at Tropicana Field, a second straight scoreless night time for the Rays.
The Rays (20-5) have been shut out in back-to-back video games solely twice within the final six years. The solely different time was Sept. 19-20 of final season and it additionally got here by the hands of the defending World Series champion Astros. The Rays, who went into the sport main the majors in runs scored, haven’t scored a run in 19 straight innings.
It got here on the heels of profitable a modern-era, record-tying 13 straight video games to begin a season and 14 straight video games at dwelling to open a season. They additionally scored a house run in every of their first 22 video games, one other document.
So what do the Rays do now that they’ve hit their first actual offensive skid of the season?
“Just not change a thing,” mentioned proper fielder Manuel Margot, through interpreter Manny Navarro. “Just keep on doing what we’ve normally been doing. The pitchers are doing a great job. Everyone has the right to make their own adjustment, whatever is necessary.”
Margot accounted for all of the Rays’ hits Wednesday night time, a season-low two singles for Tampa Bay. It was the fewest hits the Rays have had since Aug. 2, 2022, at Toronto.
“To go out there and score nine every night, it’s just not gonna happen. So it’s a long season; you’re gonna have patches where you don’t score any runs,” second baseman Brandon Lowe mentioned. “And we just had this two-game skid where, hopefully, tomorrow we rebound and are back to scoring five or six like we’re used to.”
They bumped into two dominant pitchers on back-to-back nights. After Luis Garcia led Houston in a shutout on Tuesday night time, Hunter Brown was much more dominating Wednesday.
Brown threw seven scoreless innings, scattering two hits and dealing round two walks whereas hanging out eight. The Rays managed to get one fly ball off Brown, who has now thrown 50.2 innings within the large leagues with out having given up a house run.
“He did a really good job,” Margot mentioned. “That cutter was looking really good and it looked like he was located his pitches really well tonight.”
The Rays had some fairly good pitching themselves.
Josh Flemming gave them six scoreless innings because the “bulk” man after Calvin Faucher. Fleming labored round 4 hits and a stroll, hanging out two. Faucher allowed the Astros’ lone run. He went two innings because the opener, gave up successful, walked two and struck out one.
Faucher, making his third straight “start,” gave up one run on one hit and two walks. In the primary, Jeremy Pena hit a one-out single earlier than Faucher walked Plant High alum Kyle Tucker. Wander Franco bobbled Alex Bregman’s gentle grounder, permitting the run to attain.
The Rays’ pitching has been a continuing, however the offense was a priority coming into the season.
After a 2022 season through which run scoring was tough (the Rays completed twenty first amongst 30 groups), their early offense was reassuring. The crew’s entrance workplace had banked on the wholesome return of gamers like Lowe to energy this offense and it regarded like their gamble was paying off.
Rays supervisor Kevin Cash chalked up the current mini-slump to the Astros’ pitchers, not the Rays’ method. Lowe, who labored a stroll Wednesday night time, agreed.
“We don’t worry about it,” Lowe mentioned. “… All right, we lost. This sucks. Let’s get on the plane, get into Chicago and take care of this the first day (against the White Sox).”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com