ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. _ There's still something not right about the Rays.
They can't hit left-handed pitching.
Wednesday was the Rays' fifth game against a lefty starter, and the fifth they've lost, this time 5-0 to the Red Sox and Martin Perez.
It didn't help, of course, that Tampa Bay's own lefty starter, Ryan Yarbrough, had a rough outing, allowing a pair of two-run homers.
And the result was all of that good feeling from Tuesday's return of Austin Meadows to the lineup and snapping the five-game losing streak didn't carry over one bit.
The Rays are now 5-7 heading into a weekend series of four games in three days against the AL East-leading Yankees, and the urgency of a 60-game season might soon be readily apparent.
Toronto's Hyun Jin Ryu was an All-Star and an NL Cy Young Award finalist in 2019 with the Dodgers, and Atlanta's Max Fried is a rising star. But the last three they have faced _ Baltimore's Wade LeBlanc and Tommy Milone, and Boston's Perez _ are journeymen with pedestrian stuff.
The Rays felt they were well equipped to handle left-handed starters this season, having added righty hitters Hunter Renfroe, Jose Martinez and Manuel Margot (who missed this series) to a group that included Yandy Diaz, Willy Adames and Mike Zunino, and a couple of lefties who usually handle themselves well, such as Brandon Lowe and Meadows.
Though, it should be noted, the Rays moved three of their top right-handed hitters from last season, trading Tommy Pham and allowing Travis d'Arnaud and Avisail Garcia to leave as free agents.
The Rays have not been among the best offensive teams overall, but their numbers against lefties are even worse, going into play Wednesday with a .217 average against lefties and .176 against lefty starters.
The Rays had some opportunities Wednesday, getting the leadoff man on in each of the first four innings, and a runner at some point in each of the first seven, and not converting.
The biggest waste came in the fourth. Martinez led off with a double, and Renfroe walked. But Mike Brosseau popped out, Lowe lined out and Adames _ after a drive just foul down the left-field line _ swung and missed at a 90-mph cutter for strike three.
Yarbrough had been the Rays' most consistent starter the first two times through the order and had the crispest stuff, working side to side in the strike zone with dastardly movement.
But he was not as sharp Wednesday, working around hits in each of the first three innings, then allowing some costly ones as the game went on.
With two outs in the fourth, he gave up a single to Michael Chavis and, two pitches later, a homer to lefty Alex Verdugo on a curve that didn't break much.
There was more trouble in the sixth. Xander Bogaerts led off with a double, Christian Vazquez delivered an RBI single and Chavis homered to left-center, knocking over one of the newly placed fan cutouts in the stands.
