The Tampa Bay Rays can’t go winless in the Grapefruit League, can they? Some would say they are certainly trying their best.
The Rays fell behind the Boston Red Sox early in Tuesday’s game, tried to rally, but evetually fell short once again on the scoreboard at Charlotte Sports Park, dropping a 4-2 decision.
Chris Mazza, getting the start after the Rays scratched right-hander Luis Patino, worked the first two innings without allowing a run, but allowed singles to Jonathan Arauz and Christian Arroyo before leaving with one out in the third. Reliever Adrian de Horta for Jarren Duran to ground out, but Bobby Dalbec’s double plated both inherited runners to give Boston a 2-0 lead.
The Red Sox added a third run in the seventh thanks to the dreaded leadoff walk, this time by Cristofer Ogando to Christian Koss. Koss moved to second on a base hit by Pedro Castellanos, and scored on a single by former Rays faramhand Ronaldo Hernandez.
Tampa Bay finally got on the board in the bottom of the seventh thanks to a two-run homer by Ruban Cardenas, his first of the spring.
Wil Dalton gave Boston another insurance run in the top of the eighth, leading off against Jack Labosky with his first home run of the Grapefruit League.
Tampa Bay is now 0-4-1 to start the spring.
Left-hander Shane McClanahan is scheduled to make his Grapefruit debut on Wednesday, when Tampa Bay travels up the road to North Port to take on the Atlanta Braves. He’ll be opposed by Kyle Wright, with first pitch scheduled for 1:05.
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.
