Reds' Home Run Barrage Sinks Rays Starter Shane Baz in 10-5 Loss
CINCINNATI, Ohio — Back in mid-June when young phenom Shane Baz finally made his 2022 debut for Tampa Bay, he got roughed up in a brutal third inning. He's been great ever since in four straight starts, but then got bounced around in a big way on Sunday.
Again, it was the third inning, only this time it was worse. He gave up three home runs to the Cincinnati Reds, allowing seven runs to the eight hitters he faced in an ugly 10-5 loss. Jonathan India, Tyler Stephenson and Mike Moustakas all hit two run homers, and the other run scored on a throwing error. Baz was replaced by Phoenix Sanders with just one out.
It was a stunning performance, considering how good he's been for the Rays. In between the two blow-up innings, the 23-year-old Baz has pitched 24 1/3 innings and gave up just three earned runs, a 1.01 earned run average during that stretch.
"I felt fine, I just made some bad pitches when I fell behind in the count, leaving stuff over the heart of the plate, and that's what happens,'' Baz said. "Every time I got out and pitch, I want to at least give us a chance, and today I didn't. All you can do is flush it and move on to the next one
"Things didn't speed up on me. I had a lot of chances to get more outs and get out of that inning, but it was a bad job of damage control. I challenged them today, and they just hit the ball. It was more pitch selection.
Not that it mattered a lot in the final score, but Baz didn't get much help from his teammates. There was more defensive blunders and base-running mistakes too, common fundamentals that have haunted this team all year.
In the Reds' big third inning, Josh Lowe misplayed a line drive hit to right field by Reds outfielder Tommy Pham. He dove for it, but had no chance and the ball skipped by him all the way to the wall for a triple.
Reds right fielder Tyler Naquin then hit a ground ball to first baseman Isaac Paredes, and he threw home when Pham drifted too far down the line. Catcher Rene Pinto then threw to third, but his errant throw, too close, to Pham, sailed down the left field line.
The Rays, whose starting lineup featured five players hitting under .200, had 12 hits on the day and had plenty of chances to score even more than the five runs they had. They were just 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position, and left nine men on base.
It started early, too. Yandy Diaz (3-for-4) and Harold Ramirez (2-for-4) led off the first with a pair of singles, but then shortstop Tyler Walls and left fielder Randy Arozarena struck out and Paredes popped out to end the early threat.
Diaz had a one-out single in the third and then Walls singled with two outs. Diaz went to third, but then Walls drifted too far off the bag and was thrown out. It was the 44th time the Rays have had a runner thrown out on the basepaths, far and away the worst in the majors. The Chicago White Sox are next at just 34.
Walls finished the game 1-for-5 with four strikeouts. He struck out with the bases loaded to end the fourth inning, and also in the seventh and ninth. He left six men on base himself.
Walls declined to comment after the game.
It was a surprising sweep for the Reds, who came in to the rare weekend pairing with the worst record in the National League. They Rays had just won five of six games in Toronto and Boston, and were playing well. But they lost of walk-offs on Friday and Saturday, and got blown out Sunday.
They are now 10-6 against National League opponents this season, but they've lost five in a row after winning 10 straight. They still have two games in Milwaukee and two more in Miami during interleague play.
The Rays finished the long road trip with a 5-6 record, and now head home for a week of AL East games with Boston and Baltimore. They play four night games wit the Red Sox starting Monday night, and then three with the red-hot Baltimore Orioles, who have now won eight games in a row and are suddenly just under game under .500.
The Rays, fighting the injury bug in a big way with shortstop Wander Franco, center fielder Kevin Kiermaier and starting pitcher Jeffrey Springs going on the injured list on Sunday, need to get well quickly.
Diaz, who's been on fire, said the sweep was hard to swallow, and that's certainly true. It's just the second three-game sweep of the season. The first game against the Yankees in New York, but they've won 61 games already. The lowly Reds had 28 wins heading into the series.
"Three hits didn't help us win. In one way you feel good, but then you feel bad,'' Diaz said. "That's the hard part about this game, you can beat the best teams but then lose to the not-so good teams. It happens. We've just got to stay focused on the winning, and looking forward.
"This is only three games and we have three months to go. We just have to focus on the winning. We've lost some of our better players, but we've got to trust the guys that go out there now.''
Springs, who has a calf injury and was placed on the 15-day injured list retroactive to July 7, was supposed to pitch Monday's game against the Red Sox at Tropicana Field. Instead, the Rays will have an ''opener'' situation, with Matt Wisler getting the start and Josh Fleming, who returned to the team on Sunday, expected to get the bulk of the work.
Tom Brew is the publisher of Inside The Rays, and has been with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation network for three years. He is an award-winning writer and editor who has spent most of his four-decade career at the Tampa Bay Times, Indianapolis Star and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He has written four books.