Coming into today’s game, the Rays had the best staff in the American League ERA and Cleveland Baseball’s third worst offensive.
For the Rays, it was veteran left-hander Rich Hill who took on Cleveland’s left-hander Logan Allen, who has struggled mightily so far this season. It wasn’t long before the Rays put an crooked number on the board as that blow from Brandon Lowe upgraded the Rays four.
There was little doubt as the field of play left Lowe’s racket.
#In the 0 @ #Rays 4th [B2-1o]:
Brandon Lowe hits a Grand Slam (17) for RCF
Hit: 422ft, 109.2mph, 29 °
Playing field: 92.5 mph four-seam fastball (LHP Logan Allen, 9)
– Home run tracker (@DingerTracker) July 5, 2021
Hill spun around in three stellar frames before getting into trouble in the fourth, giving up two hits, a walk, and two hits by pitches. Fortunately, only one run was abandoned when Drew Rasmussen came in to get out of the bases loaded, two out jams. The Rays added another fly ball from Manuel Margot in the lower part of the inning, which Lowe hit again.
But as fast as Rasmussen could save the hill in the fourth, he got into some trouble in the fifth. Rasmussen put the Cleveland Offensive on a constant diet of high-speed heaters, but struggled to control his slider. Limited to just one throw he could throw with confidence, disaster struck in the form of a game where Franmil Reyes tied Homer from the base of the Ray tank.
Four runs later, Rasmussen was saved for left-handed Jeffrey Springs, who left the inning without giving up any more runs.
For Cleveland, Allen’s fate was similar to Hill’s, as he was also raised in the fourth inning. He made way for 27-year-old rookie Justin Garza, who kept the Rays at bay long enough for the Cleveland Offensive to place three more runs on the board in the sixth against Springs and JP Feyereisen. And it was Reyes again, this time with a double from the top of the midfield wall.
The Rays offensive, however, was not done. They got a runback against Nick Wittgren, and after Cleveland responded with Bryan Shaw, they kicked off the record at Randy Arozarena. Ultimately, however, it was the end of the threat.
Always reliable Andrew Kittredge came to keep the Rays within two, and he did just that. In the lower part of the inning, the Rays offense was chopped off again, with Yandy Diaz adding a homer of his own, a shot on the right field line to get the Rays in one.
But while it only seems to score one hit in the last two frames, it’s an especially big job against the lights from Cleveland A-Bullpen by James Karinchak and Emmanuel Clase. The former threw one two three eight, but the latter wasn’t that lucky.
Clase immediately hired two men, and then he met Wander Franco.
With the game tied, the first base open and still no one outside, Cleveland decided to hit Meadows, which put Diaz on the plate with a chance to finish the game. And with a floor ball on the right side, which Arozarena brings for the game victory.
All in all it was a great offensive performance by the Rays, but the pitching left a lot to be desired tonight.
The Rays will be back in action on Wednesday in a double header as tomorrow’s game has been postponed due to the course of Tropical Storm Elsa.
