ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Same old story. The Rays went down quietly Friday night, but there is noise in the rear-view mirror.
The Rays were again lifeless, falling 4-1 against the Cleveland Guardians before 14,671 fans at Tropicana Field. The Guardians have pulled within 1 1/2 games of the Rays for the American League’s third and final wild-card playoff spot.
Cleveland right-hander Shane Bieber (5-6) and the bullpen stymied the struggling Rays offense, retiring 14 consecutive batters before Josh Lowe collected a ninth-inning infield single. The Rays (53-47), just 2-6 since the All-Star break, have scored three runs (or fewer) in six of their last seven games and totaled 16 runs during that silent stretch.
Rays left-hander Jeffrey Springs (3-3) surrendered a 402-foot, two-run homer to Jose Ramirez with two outs in the fifth, giving Cleveland a 3-1 lead it wouldn’t lose. Steve Kwan had singled and stolen second, providing an open base, but the Rays pitched to Ramirez.
The Rays broke from the gate and took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on Ji-Man Choi’s RBI single. But after the Rays loaded the bases with two outs, Bieber struck out Christian Bethancourt.
Cleveland evened the score in the fourth when Andres Gimenez produced an RBI double — the third consecutive hard-hit ball off Springs that inning (along with Owen Miller’s double and Franmil Reyes’ sacrifice fly).
The Rays missed their chance to retake the lead in the bottom of the fourth. Josh Lowe singled and was thrown out on Bethancourt’s bunt attempt. With two outs, Yu Chang singled and both players advanced on Bieber’s balk, giving the Rays two runners in scoring position with the team’s hottest hitter, Yandy Diaz, at the plate.
But Diaz bounced out harmlessly to shortstop.
From there, the Rays offered next to nothing. In the final five innings, only two balls left the infield.
The Rays and Guardians play the second game of their three-game series Saturday afternoon at the Trop.
