ATLANTA — The first three innings of Saturday’s game moved briskly, the Rays and Braves playing with a similar intensity to Friday’s thriller, just without any scoring.
And then Rays starter Josh Fleming made a mess of the fourth inning.
By the time he got the third out, the Braves had sent nine men to the plate, rapped a homer and three doubles and scored six runs.
And the Rays were done, the final score ending up 9-0.
The loss dropped the Rays to 54-38, and potentially to 2 1/2 games behind the American League East-leading Red Sox, whose game against the Yankees was delayed.
The loss wasn’t all on Fleming, as his Rays mates managed only four hits. That was one more than Braves pitcher Max Fried rapped on the night, as he finished 3 for 3 with two RBIs.
Another sign of how the game got out of hand was that Rays catcher Francisco Mejia pitched the eighth.
The game changed quickly on Fleming in the fourth, as the Braves had some well-placed hits.
After Fleming allowed a leadoff single to Freddie Freeman, Ozzie Albies drove a ball over the head of center fielder Brett Phillips, who misplayed the carom. Freeman scored on the hit, Albies took third on the error and he later scored on a sac fly. Fleming got another out, then gave up a double to Guillermo Heredia that landed just inside the right-field line.
Manager Kevin Cash then made an interesting decision, intentionally walking light-hitting catcher Kevan Smith to bring up Fried. And the pitcher made the move backfire by doubling in two runs. Newly acquired outfielder Joc Pederson completed the Braves' scoring with a two-run homer.
