White Sox Beat Rays Again, Benefit From Unearned Run in 6th to Win 3-2
CHICAGO, Ill. — The Tampa Bay Rays have won a lot of baseball games the past few years, and they've been successful year after year because they rarely beat themselves.
But that hasn't been the case early in this 2022 season. Once again, base-running blunders and an untimely and unexpected fielding error cost them another ballgame. This time they lost 3-2 to Chicago White Sox on Saturday at Guaranteed Rate Field, their fourth loss in a row and fifth in six games where there's been some serious lapses in fundamentals.
They are, without question, beating themselves far too often.
"We're 4-5 for a reason. We haven't been crisp on defense and we're running into outs,'' Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "It's early, but that's not an excuse. We have to play better and the guys know that.''
The game turned in the bottom of the sixth. The Rays had just tied the game at 2-2 in the top of the inning and Ryan Thompson had come on in relief of starter Corey Kluber. On his third pitch to Luis Robert, he coaxed an easy ground ball to shortstop Taylor Walls, who's on the Rays' roster because of his defensive prowess.
But Walls was unsure of the hop coming off the grass and he booted it. Robert was safe, then he stole second, went to third on a fly ball to right field and then scored on a seeing-eye single to left center by Yasmani Grandal against the Rays' shift.
The run was enough, as the Chicago bullpen closed the door from there.
"If there are going to be ground balls hit in the infield, we're going to want every one of them hit to Taylor Walls,'' Cash said. "He's really sure-handed, but that one just got away from him there. He'll make 99 more of those plays in a row.''
The Rays lost a game to Oakland earlier in the week with a bad error and base-running follies. It was more of the same Saturday, spoiling a solid out by Kluber and some fine relief work.
Kluber, who pitched 4 2/3 scoreless innings in his debut, was perfect through the first three innings Saturday. Tim Anderson led off the fourth with a single for Chicago, and then Jose Abreu, who's been battling with Kluber in American League Central showdowns for nearly a decade, hit a two-run homer to left field, his first of the year, giving the White Sox a 2-1 lead.
"I did better attacking hitters today than I did the first game. I just made a mistake to Abreu and left a breaking ball up,'' Kluber said. "We have a lot of history against each other. He knows how I'm trying to get him out, and I know what he's trying to do at the plate.''
Kluber allowed just four hits and didn't walk anyone, a nice improvement from last week when he walked four batters in his first start. Thompson, the first of three relievers, deserved a better fate. He got the loss for allowing the unearned run. Jeffrey Springs pitched the seventh, allowing just one hit, and Andrew Kittredge pitched a perfect eight.
Pitching, obviously, wasn't the problem. The Rays, who have scored three runs or less in all five losses, kept running themselves out of potential scoring threats as well.
The Rays had something going in the sixth. Wander Franco, the designated hitter for the first time after eight straight starts at shortstop, doubled to left to open the inning. He went to third on a fly ball to center field. Yandy Diaz then walked, becoming the potential go-ahead run at first.
Manuel Margot singled to center, and Franco scored to tie the game at 2-2. Diaz went to third, and the throw skipped past Chicago third baseman Josh Harrison. Third base coach Rodney Linares sent him home, which was a mistake. The ball ricocheted off the railing right back to Harrison, and he easily threw Diaz out at home.
"We've got to find a way to make better decisions (on the basepaths), "Cash said "We've had a lot (of mistakes). Yandy's was kind of unfortunate. You're expecting a ricochet, and it ricocheted right back to him. That one kind of stung.''
The Rays went down 1-2-3 in both the seventh and eighth innings, striking out five times. They had closer Liam Hendricks on the ropes in the ninth, but another baserunning blunder gave him a little more wiggle room.
Harold Ramirez, who got the start at first base, singled to open the inning, and Kevin Kiermaier pinch-ran for him. He went to second on a wild pitch, but Diaz, the second batter in the inning, hit a ground ball back to the mound. Kiermaier dashed to third anyway, and was thrown out easily by Hendriks for the first out.
Margot flied to center for the second out, but then Brett Phillips singled to right to keep the threat alive. Pinch-hitter Ji-Man Choi worked the count to 3-1 and then was intentional walked, loading the bases. Walls, though, struck out to end the game.
It was a tough ending to a hard day for Walls.
"I just played it a little too quick,'' Walls said of the game-turning error. "I couldn't really tell how it was coming off the grass, but looking back at it, I kind of over-ran it. I had plenty of time, and I didn't need to rush it.
"And I felt good (about facing Hendriks with the bases loaded in the ninth). I felt good about taking those two heaters away. The pitch that I fouled straight back, that was the one I should have hammered. You can't make mistakes like that. I have to capitalize on that one, because that pitch was there, right over the middle of the plate.
"The last pitch, it was just a good pitch, a good curveball. Maybe I just geared up for the heater a little too much with two strikes, but I should have hammered that second pitch.''
The Rays will try to salvage something out of the series on Sunday, and Cash will use an ''opener'' for the first time. He'll send J.P. Feyereisen out first. He's pitched 3 1/3 innings so far in four appearances, and has yet to give up a run. He's allowed only two hits and has struck out four.
Rookie Tommy Romero, who got an emergency start last Tuesday and struggled with control, will likely see the bulk of the work on Sunday. Vince Velasquez is expected to start for the White Sox.
The White Sox are now 6-2 and have the best record in the American League.
Related stories on Rays baseball
- JUST FOR STARTERS: Here's our breakdown of Corey Kluber's start for the Rays, and the cumulative numbers for Rays starters through nine games. CLICK HERE
- SOX WIN OPENER: Dylan Cease pitched great for Chicago and Jake Burger hit a home run and an RBI single to lead the White Sox to a 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday night in Chicago. CLICK HERE
- RAYS SCHEDULE: Here is the complete Tampa Bay Rays 2022 schedule, with results, games and locations, and start times where available. CLICK HERE
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.