TAMPA -- The Rays¡¯ first matchup of the season against an American League East rival couldn¡¯t have started on a more promising note.
And it couldn¡¯t have ended with a more frustrating finish.
On Monday night, the Rays smacked the ball around George M. Steinbrenner Field and cruised to a 16-1 win over the Red Sox, matching the largest margin of victory in franchise history. But after that triumph came a 7-4 loss and Wednesday night¡¯s 1-0 defeat, dropping them to 8-10 on the year.
¡°That stings a lot,¡± outfielder Jake Mangum said. ¡°But the best part about baseball is we've got the New York Yankees coming to town tomorrow, so we've got no time to sulk on this.¡±
The Rays got the bounce-back performance they needed from starter Zack Littell. But they couldn¡¯t offer him any support against Boston¡¯s pitching staff in the series finale.
This wasn¡¯t even a case of missed opportunities, as the Rays had only four at-bats with runners in scoring position and didn¡¯t advance a runner to third base all night. After racking up 23 hits and eight walks in the first two games of the series, they produced only five singles and two walks against Red Sox starter Sean Newcomb and relievers Greg Weissert, Garrett Whitlock and Justin Slaten.
¡°They were tough,¡± manager Kevin Cash said. ¡°Look, their bullpen the last two nights has been really, really good. ¡ Tonight, they all were featuring good stuff and commanded the baseball where it looked like, the second we walked in the box, we were [down in the count] 0-1, 0-2.¡±
The lack of run support is nothing new with Littell on the mound. The Rays have scored two runs or fewer behind Littell in 21 of his past 24 outings dating back to last May 21, the lowest run-support average in the Majors during that span.
Despite allowing the game¡¯s lone run on David Hamilton¡¯s Statcast-projected 335-foot homer to right field in the third inning, Littell¡¯s final line would suggest he should have been pleased with his performance. After yielding five runs in a loss to the Rangers on April 4 and seven to the Angels last Thursday, he held the Red Sox to just one run, five hits and three walks while striking out five over six innings.
But actually, Littell said, he didn¡¯t feel as good about the way he pitched Wednesday night as he did after either of his previous two outings.
¡°Nice to get the result. But if I'm being honest, I thought I threw the ball worse than I have the last two starts,¡± Littell said. ¡°I think that I missed a lot over the middle of the plate. Think I got lucky a few times.
¡°I was very happy with how I executed when I needed to in those big spots, controlling damage, making pitches. But yeah, just a frustrating game overall.¡±
Littell was at his best when he needed to be. In the fourth inning, he loaded the bases on a leadoff walk, a one-out double and an intentional walk after he fell behind Triston Casas. After that, he got Carlos Narv¨¢ez to pop out on a first-pitch slider and coaxed a comebacker from Hamilton to escape the inning.
¡°He's a competitor, man,¡± catcher Danny Jansen said. ¡°If he didn't feel like he had his best stuff, he's still out there giving us the best chance to win and going six innings. That's pretty good.¡±
Littell said he gave himself only one night to think about his last start. He reviewed the seven runs he surrendered against the Angels, the four home runs that accounted for half the hits he allowed, then he moved on. He was content with his process, but not the execution.
Wednesday night was almost the exact opposite. The results were ¡°really nice,¡± Littell admitted, but he thought there was a lot that needed to be cleaned up moving forward.
¡°I mean, it's a funny game, right?¡± Littell said. ¡°Even if I get good results, I still want the process to be really good, and tonight I just didn't think it was.¡±
But it was good enough to give the Rays a chance to win, falling in line with most of the rotation¡¯s work so far this season. Tampa Bay¡¯s starters have worked at least five innings and allowed two runs or fewer in 13 of 18 games, tied with Toronto for most in the Majors, including five of their past six.
¡°Gave us every opportunity. If you're going to give up one run over six innings, you're going to win a lot of games,¡± Cash said. ¡°Just not tonight.¡±