Balk-Off Loss For Rays in Hard-to-Swallow 10-Inning 2-1 Defeat to Reds
CINCINNATI, Ohio — Tampa Bay reliever Matt Wisler is 100 percent sure that he didn't do anything different in the 10th inning of Friday night's game with the Cincinnati Reds than he has in any other appearance all year.
With the potential winning run on third base, Wisler got a signal through the Pitch-Com system from catcher Francisco Mejia, and he shook it off. He tapped his glove to his leg — ''which I do all the time — looking for a different pitch. Instead, home plate umpire Edwin Moscoso called a balk on Wisler and the run scored, giving the Rays a 2-1 victory in 10 innings.
It was the first time in the 25-year history of the Rays organization that they've lost a game on a walk-off balk.
"I feel like I've done that move a lot of time. I just tap my leg when I want a different sign,'' Wisler said. "If he saw something, I get it, I just need to know if it's a different rule now because I've done that a lot in my career, just tapping my leg without moving any part of my body. I'm a big leg-tapper, and for that to cost us a game, that sucks.
"Having a guy (1-2) and with a chance to put him away and a chance to get another out, that was the worst part about it. For me, that's a tough time to call that in that situation. I feel like I've done that a lot of times.''
It was a tough way to lose a game for sure, especially for a Rays team that had won five of six games on this road trip and were rolling, even with a day off. Instead, the loss put a damper on another record-setting performance by Tampa Bay ace Shane McClanahan added to his own American League record Friday night.
The Rays' outstanding 25-year-old left-hander pitched six innings of one run ball and struck out eight batters. It was the 11th straight start where he's pitched six innings or more, struck out seven batters or more and allowed two runs or league, which has never been done in the AL since Baseball Reference data has been tracking such things since 1901. Only National League starters Randy Johnson (Arizona, 14) and Mike Scott (Houston, 12) have longer streaks.
McClanahan left after six innings with the score tied 1-1, knotted in a pitcher's duel with Cincinnati's Luis Castillo. He's been on a roll lately, too, allowing just one earned run total in his last two starts, covering 13 innings.
The Rays got two men on in the first but didn't capitalize. They finally got to Castillo in the third, when Yandy Diaz doubled down the right field line and scored two batters later on a single by first baseman Ji-Man Choi.
McClanahan's only hiccup came in the bottom of the inning. He fell behind Brandon Drury 3-0, but then left a fastball up and he hit it deep into the seats in left field to tie the game at 1-1.
"I felt good, but I don't know what the heck happened to me in those first three innings,'' McClanahan said. "I just couldn't get into a groove, and I had to snap out of it. I feel behind and walked two batters, and I fell behind 3-0 and gave up a home run.
"This team deserves better, and those last three innings were more of a reflection of what I am as a pitcher.''
He gave up only three hits all night, and retired his last 10 batters.
Castillo lasted seven innings, allowing just four hits to the Rays. But then the Reds' bullpen — the worst in the majors with a 5.49 ERA — had to take over, and the results were surprisingly good. They kept the Rays in check, getting a few breaks along the way.
It was the same with the Rays' pen. Colin Poche pitched the seventh, giving up just one hit, and Ryan Thompson and Jason Adam were solid in the eighth and ninth.
The Rays didn't score in the top of the 10th. Josh Lowe opened the inning with a single and placed runner Francisco Mejia moved to third. Diaz hit a ground ball to shortstop Kyle Farmer and he threw home, trying to get Mejia, who slid into catcher Michael Papierski as the ball arrived.
Mejia thought he was safe, but was called out. Rays manager Kevin Cash challenged the play, both for the call and also whether Papierski had improperly blocked Mejia's path on the slide. The call stood, and the inning ended when Franco hit a line drive right to second base that ended the inning.
In the bottom of the inning, the Reds Nick Senzel bunted placed runner Mark Kolozsvary over to third off of Wisler, and that was the first sacrifice bunt of his career. Wisler walked Albert Almora Jr., and then had an 1-2 count on Papierski. That's when the balk was called, ending the game in stunning fashion.
"I didn't see anything because I wasn't looking at Wis, but I did hear there might have been a flinch,'' Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "Taking to Edwin (Moscoso) and Lance Barrett at second base, they said he flinched and it was a balk.
"(Wisler) was surprised. We were all surprised. You don't expect a game to end that way. Wisler's argument was that it was something he's consistently done in the past. I'll have to take a look.''
The two teams meet again on Saturday afternoon at 4:10 p.m. ET, with Drew Rasmussen on the mound 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.