ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — On days such as this, you need to look for silver linings.
For instance, I bet the Red Sox are really ticked off now.
For three days, the Rays played some of their best baseball of 2021 against Boston. The seats at Tropicana Field were filled, Rays pitchers were sharp and hitters were knocking the ball all over the yard. Tampa Bay won three in a row and wrested control of the American League East away from the Red Sox.
And as soon as the Red Sox left town, the Rays wet the bed.
Tampa Bay did very little right in an 8-2 loss to Seattle on Monday night, the fifth consecutive game the Rays have dropped against the Mariners this season. Even the box office was a disappointment with a puny crowd of 5,855 at Tropicana Field.
Aside from infuriating Boston fans, the only other consolation was the Blue Jays and Yankees both lost Monday so only the idle Red Sox gained a half-game in the standings.
Still, if you’re into omens and portents, this game was not a good sign. The last time the Rays began a series against the Mariners, they had a one-game lead in the AL East. After being swept in Seattle, the Rays were staring up at the Red Sox in the standings.
Right-hander Michael Wacha continued his yin/yang version of a starting pitcher for the Rays. Coming off a strong five-inning outing against the Yankees, Wacha gave up eight hits, three walks and five runs in 3.2 innings. It’s part of a disturbing pattern for Wacha, who has followed up every decent performance with a poor showing in the past six weeks.
Of course, it wasn’t all Wacha’s fault. His defense let him down with a pair of errors from second baseman Brandon Lowe and a couple of other shaky plays that are unusual for the slick-fielding Rays.
Tampa Bay hitters didn’t offer much help, either. The Rays were scoreless through the first three innings against Chris Flexen while the Mariners built a 6-0 lead.
It’s as if the Rays are on a mission to singlehandedly keep the Mariners in the AL wild card race. Seattle is barely .500 against the rest of Major League Baseball but is 5-0 against the Rays while outscoring them 31-15.
It wasn’t particularly good timing for the Tampa Bay bullpen, either. With five of their relievers going on the injured list in the last five weeks, the Rays are running thin on available pitchers on the 40-man roster.
After the bullpen threw 11 innings in the three-game series against Boston, manager Kevin Cash was hoping Wacha could get deeper into Monday night’s game to give the bullpen a breather.
Instead, Wacha had a 42-pitch third inning and was gone with two outs in the fourth.
