The Tampa Bay Rays 11-game road trip ended with a thud Sunday afternoon, as Shane Baz failed to get out of the third inning after allowing atrio of two-run homers, and the Cincinnati Reds would go on to complete a three-game sweep of the Rays with a 10-5 victory in the finale at Great American Ballpark.
The right-hander worked a perfect first, and allowed a pair of singles in the second before Reds bats finally broke through in the third. Matt Reynolds led off the inning with a single, and Jonathan India followed with the first of the three homers. After Brandon Drury grounded out for the first out of the inning, Tommy Pham‘s liner was misplayed by Josh Lowe into a triple, and Tyler Naquin‘s ground ball, which got Pham in a rundown between third base and the plate was then thrown into left field by catcher Rene Pinto for an error. Tyler Stephenson followed with the second of the three homers, and after Donovan Solano singled, Mike Moustakas ended Baz’s afternoon with the third two-run blast.
Manager Kevin Cash said there was no sign that Baz was doing anything to tip his pitches.
“They just made a good adjustment on him,” the Rays skipper explained. “It wasn’t strike throwing. It was just that they got pitches they could hit and did a lot of damage in a short amount of time.”
Tampa Bay got back into the game against Reds starter Nick Lodolo in the top of the fourth, starting with a solo homer by Randy Arozarena, his tenth of the season. Isaac Paredes and Lowe followed with base hits, and after Yu Chang and Pinto each struck out, Yandy Diaz drove in a pair with a base hit tio right t make it 7-3.
Harold Ramirez walked to load the bases and bring the tying run to the plate, but Taylor Walls struck out looking to strand the bases loaded, and the Reds would get back all three runs in the bottom of the fourth thanks to a two-run double by Drury and a RBI single by Solano.
Lowe and Pinto would each add a solo home run in the eighth, but by then, the game was already long decided.
The Rays return to Tropicana Field for the final homestand before the All-Star break, which will begin with the start of a four-game series with the Boston Red Sox. Josh Fleming (2-4, 6.17 ERA) is expected to work the bulk of Monday’s game, taking on Brayan Bello (0-1, 9.00 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 7:10.
Steve Carney is the founder and publisher of St. Pete Nine. One of the people most associated with baseball coverage in Tampa Bay, he spent 13 seasons covering the Rays for flagship radio station WDAE, first as producer of Rays Radio broadcasts, then as beat reporter beginning in 2011. He likes new analytics and aged bourbon, and is the owner of one of the ugliest knuckleballs ever witnessed by baseball scouts.
