Sloppy Defense Costs Rays in Big Way in 8-4 loss to Mariners
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Seattle's Logan Gilbert has been the nastiest pitcher in baseball so far this season, so the Tampa Bay Rays knew they were going to have to be at their best Tuesday night.
They weren't. Not even close.
It what might qualify as the ugliest inning of the early season for Tampa Bay, the Rays committed two unsightly errors in the fourth inning, and the miscues led to seven unearned runs.
The big inning was more than enough, and it led to an easy 8-4 Seattle victory in the first game of a three-game series at Tropicana Field.
As expected, Gilbert, a hard-throwing 24-year-old right-hander from right down the road in Apopka, Fla., was dominant. He came into the game with a flashy 0.54 earned run average after allowing just one run in 16 2/3 innings during his first three starts.
And after Tuesday, it went down. Fleming, who pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings and allowed just two hits, now has a 0.40 ERA, the best in baseball. He had seven strikeouts, and Brandon Lowe and Ji-Man Choi had the Rays' only two hits off of Gilbert.
It all went off the rails for the Rays in the top of the fourth. Jesse Winker started the inning with a single off of Josh Fleming, and Eugenio Suarez walked. After a line-out, designated hitter Abraham Toro hit an easy ground ball to Tampa Bay shortstop Wander Franco that should have been a sure double play. But he botched the play, with the ball getting stuck on the way out of his glove, and Lowe couldn't handle the throw at second. Everyone was safe, loading the bases
The next hitter, Seattle catcher Tom Murphy, checked his swing and hit a little roller to first baseman Ji-Man Choi. But his throw to home bounced well before the plate and skipped past catcher Mike Zunino for an error, and two runs scored.
Fleming deserved a better fate, certainly, but then he added fuel to the fire, allowing a double, a hit batter, another double and a single, and Seattle had a seven-spot on the board.
All seven runs were unearned.
"It just seemed like everything that could possibly go wrong went wrong,'' Fleming said. “it was just one of those games that just kept spiraling downward and downward and didn’t seem like anything could or would go our way. That’s baseball. That’s the best I can describe it.”
Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash concurred.
“Just a rough inning for all of us,'' Cash said. "We didn’t help him defensively like we usually do. We’ve got to be better than allowing that inning to snowball.’’
Seattle added another run in the sixth. No. 9 hitter Dylan Moore tripled off Tampa Bay reliever Phoenix Sanders, and scored on a sacrifice fly by first baseman Ty France.
Even in a blowout, there are nice moments. Rays rookie catcher Rene Pinto, who was making his major-league debut after replacing Mike Zunino in the fifth inning, hit a home run to right-center for his first career hit.
What a debut for René Pinto!
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 27, 2022
After 8 seasons in the Minors, the @RaysBaseball rookie homers for his first @MLB hit. pic.twitter.com/dwNqKnCgkn
That made it 8-2, but the Rays weren't done. Brandon Lowe singled, and then Franco also homered to right to cut the lead to 8-4. It was Franco's team-leading fourth home run of the year.
The Rays threatened again in the eighth, getting singles from Choi and center fielder Kevin Kiermaier, but Manuel Margot popped out and rookie Josh Lowe, who's hitting .160, struck out for the team-leading 22nd time.
Pinto led off the ninth with a single to center off of Seattle closer Andres Munoz, but Brandon Lowe and Franco struck out. After a Yandy Diaz walk, Choi struck out to end the game.
Seattle, leading the American League West, is now 11-6. The Rays are 9-8. The Mariners continue to own the Rays. They were 6-1 against Tampa Bay last year.
The two teams get together against on Wednesday at 6:40 p.m. ET. Drew. Rasmussen, a Spokane, Wash., native who grew up as a Mariners fan, will get the start for the Rays.
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.