Rays Snap 4-Game Losing Streak With 9-3 Rout of White Sox
CHICAGO, Ill. — Losing streaks are always tough to deal with, especially when you're beating yourself much of the time. That's been the case for the Tampa Bay Rays lately, so Sunday's 9-3 thumping of the Chicago White Sox felt good all around.
The Rays scored four runs in first inning and four more in the eighth — they had two four-spots last Sunday too — and rolled to an easy win, snapping a four-game losing streak. They Rays are now back to .500 and feeling good about themselves again.
“It was better. I’m happy that we pulled out a win because three or four losses in a row can frustrate any club,'' Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "We had a big first inning, and a big eighth. We gave our pitchers something to work with, and I was really encouraged by that.''
The Rays, who were sloppy in a couple of losses, were on the receiving end of some shaky play on Sunday. The White Sox made three errors — all by pitchers — and also had two wild pitches and a passed ball.
And it started right from the beginning, when the Rays sent 10 men to the plate in the first inning, and seven in a row reached base. They did it with an infield hit and two soft floaters into the outfield, along with three walks from starter Vince Velasquez and an error from him on an easy grounder back to the mound.
That was more than enough because the Rays got great pitching all day long on a Sunday ''opener'' day. J.P. Feyereisen started and got six straight outs. Only Chris Mazza struggled, giving up two runs in 2 1/3 innings because of five walks. Jalen Beeks and Ryan Thompson were also perfect and Tommy Romero got the last six outs, allowing just a Gavin Sheets homer in the ninth.
“J.P. has been throwing the ball really really well early on this season, so I’m encouraged by that,'' Cash said. "It was a different role a little bit starting the game but he seemed to take it in stride and be comfortable with it.
“Strike throwing was a little challenging for him today, but he made some big pitches today when he needed to.''
The Rays, who had made six errors in their previous 1-5 skid, played an error-free game Sunday and were solid defensively. The highlight was an over-the-wall catch by Josh Lowe, who stole a home run from Tim Anderson in the first inning
“That was impressive. I thought that was a no-doubt homer. It’s a good thing it was cold and the wind was blowing the other way, but Josh being 6-foot-4, he got up there pretty good.''
Josh Lowe with a great catch to rob Tim Anderson pic.twitter.com/k2v9lWHPrk
— Baseball Bros (@BaseballBros) April 17, 2022
"I feels good to put myself in position to make a play on that ball and help my team out,'' said Lowe, the Rays' highly touted rookie who said he'd only robbed one home run before, last season in Durham.
"It was kind of a weird play. The wind was blowing in pretty hard and I didn't think it was going to go that far. This is the Windy City, right? Sometimes the flags are pretty accurate in what it's doing, but sometimes not. You've just got to trust your eyes and trust your ability. Itwas good to help the pitchers out a little bit.''
The Rays had 12 hits on the day, their second-highest total of the year. Randy Arozarena and Manuel Margot had three hits, and Wander Franco added two.
The Rays, who are now 5-5 and sit one game behind the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League East, start a three-game series against the Chicago Cubs on Monday night at Wrigley Field. The Cubs, who beat the Colorado Rockies 6-4 on Sunday, are 5-4 on the season.
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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.