ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The hits keep coming for the Rays. Unfortunately, it’s blows to their pitching staff and record.
Starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow left Friday night’s game against the Braves with two outs in the sixth inning with what the team called “cramping.”
The Braves went on to beat the Rays 2-1 in front of a sellout crowd of 25,025 at Tropicana Field.
It was the season-high sixth straight loss for the Rays, who dropped to 57-34. Tampa Bay had not lost six straight since a seven-game skid in June 2021. In a battle of the teams with the two best records in baseball, the Braves won their 26th of their past 30 games to improve to 59-28.
The Rays did not say where Glasnow suffered the cramping. He was rubbing and stretching his left hand as he walked off the field with a team trainer. He had a hand cramp that forced him out of a game in 2021.
If it is anything more than a one-night issue, it is a big concern for Tampa Bay, which already was scouring the trade market for another arm.
The Rays have lost Jeffrey Springs for the season to Tommy John surgery. Drew Rasmussen is out indefinitely with a flexor strain. Josh Fleming is rehabbing with elbow inflammation. Shane McClanahan is on the injured list with mid-back tightness, though he is expected back shortly after the All-Star break.
Glasnow, who just returned from Tommy John surgery late last season, missed the start of this year after suffering a strained oblique in spring training.
Glasnow, who is 2-3 with a 4.10 ERA, has never pitched as many 112 innings in a season because of injuries.
He was pitching well Friday before he was forced to leave. He retired six of the first seven batters (Marcell Ozuna reached on a third-strike wild pitch) before allowing a leadoff walk to Orlando Arcia in the third.
With one out in the fourth, Brandon Lowe whiffed on a sharp ground ball to his left, allowing Matt Olson to reach base. Sean Murphy followed with a 386-foot home run to give the Braves a 2-1 lead.
Glasnow allowed two runs, one earned, on two hits over 5 2/3 innings. He walked one and struck out eight. He generated 16 swings-and-misses, eight on his slider.
Murphy’s homer extended the Braves’ streak to 24 straight games with a home run and gave Atlanta 167 this season. That passes the 2019 Twins for most by any team in MLB history prior to the All-Star break.
At one point this season, the Rays were setting the pace with home runs. But like their offense of late, their power has slowed down.
Wander Franco’s first-inning homer to right field off former Tampa Bay right-hander Charlie Morton was the team’s 135th this year but just their 31st since June 1.
Morton went 18-8 with a 3.33 ERA in 42 starts for the Rays over 2019-20, and 5-1 with a 2.10 ERA over six playoff starts. Friday, he held his former teammates to just one run on four hits over 6 1/3 innings. He walked two and struck out six.
Elvin Rodriguez, who the Rays called up from Triple-A before the game, did a stellar job picking up for Glasnow. The right-hander, acquired from the Tigers, threw 3 1/3 hitless, scoreless innings to save a bullpen that had been used heavily the previous two nights.
