ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. _ For openers, Ryne Stanek pitched extremely well for the Rays on Tuesday, retiring the first six Blue Jays. As the relieving starter, Austin Pruitt did OK, getting eight more outs.
By the end of the night, the Rays had used six pitchers total of a bullpen that had a perpetual status update of "taxed." That collaboration, along with a two-run homer by Wilson Ramos, some other clutch hitting and a handful of pretty good plays in the field added up to a 4-1 win over the Blue Jays.
With Chris Archer's return to action delayed indefinitely, it's going to be like this for the Rays, at least three days out of five, at a time when their schedule gets downright brutal.
After Wednesday's matinee against the Blue Jays, the Rays head into what looks to be the most rigorous, gut-wrenching, pitcher-challenging stretch they'll have, 16 straight games against the contending Yankees, Astros and Nationals, starting with a trip to New York and Houston.
And they'll be doing it with exactly two traditional starters in their rotation _ Nathan Eovaldi and Blake Snell.
"It definitely will be challenging going into those two ballparks," manager Kevin Cash said, diplomatically.
For the other three games that Snell and Eovaldi don't start, at least when there is no day off as a reprieve, they're planning to stick with using game openers, with Stanek and his high-octane fastball now their top choice.
"Ideally with our starters _ and I know it's different now, we were anticipating Arch to be back a little sooner _ we'd like to be able to label him where he's doing it two in five, twice in five games."
When Archer first went on the DL last week with an abdominal strain, the Rays thought he'd miss only a start or two, best case scenario pitching Sunday at Yankee Stadium.
But given the soreness he felt in the days after throwing 20 pitches off the mound Saturday, now they don't really know when.
"It just tells us that I need to rest a little bit longer," Archer said.
If Archer feels good after a couple of days off and gets through a mound session with no after-effects, he could be back in the next week or so. But if the soreness lingers for much past that, he's going to be set back weeks, as he'll need to build back up with rehab starts in the minors, which could delay him until near or even after the mid-July All-Star break.
That not only would impact the Rays starting plans in the short-term, but potentially _ wink, wink _ their strategy, in a season committed to youth, leading up to the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, when Archer, at the least, will be a prime subject of conversation and speculation.
For the same reason but potentially different motives, both sides want to be cautious in making sure he comes back in top form.
Said Archer: "If I'm on the DL, I want to come back 100 percent because I'm not doing anybody any favors by coming back any less than that. ..."
Said Cash: "We've got to allow him the time that when he gets back off a mound again that he does feel good because the last thing you want him to do is try to pitch through something and alter his mechanics, alter his delivery to where that affects something more serious like his arm or something."
Tuesday night, anyway, they had reason to smile.
The win over the Jays was their second straight and third in four games, pushing their record to 31-35.
The pitching, as a group effort, was good enough, as they went from Stanek to Pruitt (who got the win) to Jonny Venters to Chaz Roe to Jose Alvarado to Sergio Romo (who got the save). Cash had said before the game that Pruitt had pitched well at times, but should be able to do more to give them a bit of a better chance to win.
They got a two-run homer from potential All-Star catcher Ramos and a pair of clutch singles by Joey Wendle and Mallex Smith.
And they got some dazzling defense from the rookie dynamic duo, shortstop Willy Adames and first baseman Jake Bauers.
On some nights, it can work out.
But it's never going to be easy.
