Rays beat rain, get beat up by Yankees
NEW YORK — The prospect of being rained out Sunday, with the ominous forecast for a steady downpour, was troubling for the Rays given the logistical issues of playing a makeup game.
They have only one off day the rest of the year (Sept. 26), on which the Yankees are in Toronto. So, it was either going to require Major League Baseball to change the schedule or the face the prospect of returning to New York on Oct. 6.
That is the lone off day between the end of the regular season and the start of the best-of-three, one-site wild-card series, which (depending on how the final 2½ weeks play out) could be played as far away as Seattle.
And, boy, would that have been better.
Instead, the teams through a nearly two-hour delay and a brutal start by Tampa Bay’s Luis Patino, quickly turned the day into a waste of time. The Rays were in a deep hole early and lost big for the second straight game, this time 10-4. On Saturday, they fell 10-3.
Patino got only four outs, allowing nine runs — including three-run homers to Gleyber Torres (in the first inning) and Giancarlo Stanton (in the second) and a solo shot to Torres — on five hits and four walks.
The loss was the Rays’ second straight, dropping them to 78-60 and 5½ games behind the American League East-leading Yankees with 24 to play.
Of greater concern now is their standing in the wild-card race, as they are in a close battle with the Mariners and Blue Jays, whom they play five times over the next four days. (and again four more times at home, Sept. 22-25.) Plus, the Orioles and White Sox are lurking on the fringe.
Patino’s short outing not only hurt the Rays Sunday but had a ripple effect on their pitching plans for the week. Ryan Yarbrough, who was expected to work the bulk of the innings Monday, was used to pitch five innings Sunday.
Also of note, shortstop Wander Franco was taken out of the game in the fourth inning. The Rays said there was no injury; it was just a baseball decision to get him off his feet in the midst of a stretch of playing 18 games in 17 days.
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